Code Light
by terrapin01
Summary: Code Geass meets Death Note. Beginning is the day after Lelouch gains his powers, and Light recieves the Death Note whilst attending Ashford Academy. I am writing by the seat of my pants, so I really don't know where this will end up. Not on hiatus, but I definitely painted myself into a corner and retcon is for nubs.
1. Chapter 1

Code Light Chapter 1:Introductions

* * *

The classroom was abuzz with rumors and nervous speech, whispering rumors about a new student who was an Eleven. However Lelouch did not care for these things and tried to ignore the ramblings of such shallow-minded fools. The recent events of the Shinjuku ghetto were worth contemplating, he would need to plan his next move carefully if he wished to utilize the terrorist organization against the Brittanian empire. More importantly, there was the issue with Kallen, re-appearing now could put his identity and his life in much greater danger. And what could she be doing with a terrorist organization? Lelouch needed answers and began plotting to meet with her when the teacher called out.  
"Class, this is our new student. Please introduce yourself." The teacher's voice carried only the slightest traces of disdain, at least on the surface. The new student bowed, and wrote his name on the board in Japanese.  
"My name is Light Yagami. I am son of Soichiro Yagami, honorary Brittanian and Chief of the NPA." His face seemed bright and friendly enough, but Lelouche sensed something...off. Light walked silently to the desk behind Lelouch and class began.

* * *

Light bowed before the class and introduced himself. He put on a facade of friendliness, but here was the worst. Every day before the Brittanians invaded he watched a despicable world around him full of criminals, but now here he stood in the middle of the rotten apple. Students on the verge of xenophobia, brimming with hatred and a sense of undeserved entitlement. They were the enablers of those such as the emperor, who would have no power otherwise. These were the kind of people that made the world so rotten. He unconsciously divulged a small snippet of information about himself and sat down behind a particular Brittanian with ebony hair and violet eyes. There was something about him that made Light feel uneasy. He seemed to wear the same mask, one of outward friendliness but secretly plotting on the inside. If only there was something he could do to stop the infection upon the world.

At lunch Light skirted to the edges of the courtyard. He did not wish to attract the attention of his disdainful peers yet. He heard a shriek and saw a group of three girls yelling "Bee! Bee! Don't let it get you Kallen!" Well, two of them were screaming. The one with red hair had a much calmer demeanor. Then he noticed something. It appeared to be a black notebook that fell into a bush on the other side of the courtyard. With everyone's attention focused on the bees, Light quickly made his way over and bent down into the bushes. Crouching down he examined it. The cover said "Death Note" in white letters and as he flipped through the pages they were all blank. However when he looked at the inside of the front cover there was writing. _The human whose name is written in the Death Note shall die. _ Just as light prepared to stand up, he noticed the red-haired girl, Kallen, on the other side of the bush as she exclaimed "God I hate this! I'm sick of acting like a freaking invalid!" Then he saw violet-eyes behind her. There was a moment of silence.

"Can I help you?"  
"I want answers." Violet-eyes declared, Kallen seemed to waver.

"Of Course." Hmm, this seemed strange. There was a world of difference between the way she acted seconds ago and now.

"Were you the one piloting the Glasgow at Shinjuku?" Shinjuku? There had recently been a gas leak there, or so the media had reported. Frequently Brittanian news would censor anything unfavorable to the empire. However how would these two know the truth of the matter?

"Yes."

"Why terrorism?" So, the Shinjuku incident was the work of terrorists, one of which happened to be this girl. However Violet-eyes didn't appear to be her confederate the way the questioning was going. So who was he in all of this?

"Because I'm Japanese. Though technically I'm half Brittanian."

"Half-blood? But why go so far?" Violet-eyes seemed a bit stunned. To be fair Light was puzzled himself, still he had many questions left. that he hoped they could answer. When suddenly it seemed like Kallen fell out of her trance-like state.

"Can I help you?" Light's eyes widened. So whatever trick Violet-eyes pulled erased memory of the event! This set Light off, what could he be doing that erases memory like that, and how could he use it so freely? Whatever it was could bring this world to justice, yet here it was being used merely to delve into someone's identity. Despicable.  
"No, I got what I wanted." Violet-eyes turned to go before looking back and saying "Oh wait, just to be sure. Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku."

"What do you mean about Shinjuku?" Kallen asked accusingly, as Violet-eyes' eyes widened. Apparently his trick only works once on a person. No, Light couldn't rule out the possibility that there was a time duration and Violet-eyes just forgot how long it had been. Or perhaps there was a time limit in between the times a person was affected. Some other restriction? However, the most valuable info that Light gained now was that Violet-eyes himself was surprised that it did not work. So he was running around with a power he did not know everything about.

"Go back to class." Violet-eyes stated firmly. Was he attempting to use his power again, or merely attempting to use force of will?

"As soon as I get an answer to my question I will." Kallen definitely reverted back to her old self. Violet-eyes seemed to tense up as his ploy failed. However he was saved as a voice called out from the window.

"Hey Lulu! Kallen! You know its time to head over to head over to the chem lab! You better get a move on!"

"Oh crap! It's my turn to set up for class!" Violet-eyes took off in a sprint. He played the part well, because if Light had not seen the roster, he never would have figured that he was lying. Also his ease in which he fell into that role meant he was quick thinking and intelligent. And Lulu? An obvious pet name of sort, but Violet-eyes would do because as much as he seemed to lie, it would not be very dignified to himself or his opponent to use the term 'Lulu'.

* * *

Lelouch let out a sigh of relief as he headed to chemistry. He could not believe the timing in which Milly had intervened. Now the Kallen issue had become top priority. Instead of banishing suspicions, she was even more wary of him! He would need to run more testing on his power. He strode into the chemistry lab confidently, if not a bit late. There was one lab station left... with Light. Reluctantly he took a breath and walked over attempting to be friendly, trying to sense what it was that was so off-putting.  
"Hi." Light greeted, seeming friendly enough.

"Hello." Lelouch stated in a flat manner. Then he saw what unnerved him so much, and practically chuckled himself. The uneasy feeling came from the fact that Light seemed to analyze everything he said, much like he did. A calculating mind lay beneath his friendly face, one that seemed to have a goal in mind. He would have to be careful of these sharp eyes when testing his powers and working towards the downfall of the Brittanian empire. It was Rivalz who interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey! Hope you can keep up with Lelouche! He's the sharpest kid in the class, even though he is a bit lazy."  
Damn, Rivalz! Just as he discovered a new possible threat, information about Lelouch was being divulged. But would Light take Rivalz statement for granted? He felt so paranoid about the whole ordeal, the problems just kept coming. The lab worksheet was passed out and Lelouch wrote his name on the paper. He caught Light glancing at it, as expected but now he had a plan. As a team the two worked swiftly, each measuring the others actions.

"Hey Light, could we talk after class?" Lelouch gave a smile hiding his glee as the rest of the class pondered what the class genius could want with an Eleven.

"Sure, just let me pick something up beforehand alright?" On the inside Lelouch laughed. Checkmate, Light. I'll keep you from ever interfering with my plans. As intelligent as you are, there is no countermeasure for my eye.

Lelouch saw Light walking down a corridor at the end of the day. No-one else was around, it was his move.  
"Hey Light!" he called and the two walked towards each other.  
"Yea, what is it?" Perfect. He felt a rush as he spoke  
"You are never write or speak my name. When talking to people, you do not know me personally, I am only a fellow classmate." Lelouch laughed on the inside. Light had been disarmed, no information he gathered could be used against him and there would be no suspicious Lelouch-sized gap in Light's mind. Quickly he turned his back to light and walked away.

* * *

Light stood dazed, wondering what he was doing. He scratched his head and put his hand in his pocket. It was a piece of paper.  
_I am going to meet with Lelouch Lamperouge. He has some method that will automatically compel a listener to do as he demands. It also appears that those under the influence of his commands lose memory of the time they spend under his power. Because of this I have put a recording device in my pocket and I will activate it any time I see Lelouche. If I am ever feeling dazed I will check the tape._  
It seemed a bit odd, but after checking his pocket there was indeed a recorder. After listening to it his memories of the time surrounding the command seemed to make more sense.  
"All according to plan." Light said with a smirk, laughing alone in the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Code Light Chapter 2:What's in a Name?

* * *

Lelouch Lamperouge. Light pondered over the name. He had been ordered not to speak or write the name, but apparently he could think it perfectly well. However, he wished to test the ability of Lelouch's power.  
"Violet-eyes." Light declared to his empty room. He sat stunned for a second. A fluke, due to the fact that Violet-eyes had been internalized as his label? He tried again.  
"Violet-eyes." Indeed it seemed that Lelouch's order held integrity. But that meant this was not just an order, but a physically manifested compulsion. Once more, full name this time.  
"Violet-eyes Lamperouge." Hold on, he could speak his last name! Perhaps the semantics of name only referred to the first name. Perhaps his last name was false? No that couldn't be it, Lamperouge was used on all school documents, meaning it was his official name. Or was someone higher up concealing his identity? Discovering these things would be difficult, too many variables. He opened up his backpack and removed a sheet of paper and attempted to write. The first word turned into an utter mess, but Lamperouge turned out fine. Then he attempted writing one letter at a time. He completed the whole name with triumph, until he looked at it again. 'The Couch' Lamperouge. Apparently the command completely overrode his thought process. Feeling uncharacteristically frustrated, Light placed his notebook back in his bag when he remembered. He picked out the Death Note and placed it on the table. It was silly, writing someone's name couldn't just kill them. But could it? Light's thinking and ability to speak had just been rewritten by the mere words of a person. At this point he really wished he could write Lelouch's name in the note. However, the notebook never said anything about it being either the full name or even the legal name. Light thought a second before writing in the notebook. If it was real, it would hold great power and surely people would be after him if he were to cull the entire world of evil, he could not learn all of their names and faces instantly. However if it did work, then no one would notice a single student disappearing and it certainly couldn't be traced back to him. Lelouch would do as a test subject. He hoped semantics worked in his favor and wrote in the Death Note as he called Lelouch. _Violet-eyes Lamperouge. _Luckily Lelouch picked up.

"Hello Ashford Academy student council, this is Lelouch." He sounded calm and there was a shower running in the background.

"Hey, this is Light. I was calling to see what it would take to join the student council. It would be good for my resume, me being an Eleven and all." 40 seconds, Light thought looking at his watch. Just delay him a few more seconds.  
"Oh, uh, you should talk to Milly Ashford, she's the president." 40 seconds had passed. Nothing. But there did seem to be a sudden tension in his voice, as if this call had thrown a monkey wrench into some plan.  
"Well, I guess I'll let you go then, Violet-eyes Lamperouge." Light smashed his phone shut and nearly screamed. How had he messed that last bit up so badly, he'd nearly made a full assessment when he said _Violet-eyes Lamperouge_! With Lelouch's intelligence he would likely be able to divine all of the limitations that Light himself had just discovered. Compounding that was the nickname Violet-eyes. Light felt incredibly stupid and embarrassed. His battle with Lelouch would not be an easy one.

* * *

Lelouch hurriedly handed Kallen the phone. Why had Light called him? The oversight in his command... nothing! The order should have left him without need to contact him. Lelouch would have admitted that Light just happened to call about the student council, if he had not said Violet-eyes Lamperouge at the end. Most likely he had tried to say 'Lelouch' but unable to say that defaulted to Violet-eyes. However Light being able to say Lamperouge was even more disconcerting. Did Light know it was a false name and if so did he discover that he was royalty? Or did it just so happen that it was the power itself that recognized that Lamperouge wasn't his true last name. But the compulsion should have avoided the incident entirely, but Light had managed to circumvent the order. The only way he could have done that was if he had been prepared and there was no time when Light could have seen the effects other than the Shinjuku ghetto incident... and when he questioned Kallen! Lelouch's theory made sense now. If Light had been nearby, he was sure that it would be a few steps of logic for Light to conclude a good deal of his powers' abilities. But if he heard the conversation Kallen could become a liability. He glanced over for a second, but Kallen was still occupied with his prerecorded message. If Light knew what he could do he could reveal him to Kallen, ruining his current plan. However that certainly was difficult for Light, who obviously couldn't even say his name. Satisfied with his musings on the Light situation for now, he pretended to be paying attention

"Cease fire?" He asked her

* * *

Light mused about what he should do next. Another subject was needed, one he could actually write the name of. Turning on the TV, he flipped through the channels.

"Honorary Brittanian Suzaku Kururugi is suspected of killing Prince Clovis." Light opened the Death Note then paused. Even if it might not work, it was likely that this Kururugi was innocent and merely a scapegoat for the Brittanians. He tried to change the channel, but every channel aired the same thing. Turning off the television and opening his computer, he searched the internet for live broadcasts. Luckily he found one airing the recapture of an escaped convict. Donovan Haliburton, Light wrote. Convicted of numerous killings of civilians and accused for the deaths of several political figureheads. And after 40 seconds, he died. Certainly, he had a weapon against Lelouch, but how to utilize it. After thinking it over Light put those thoughts behind him. A small personal grudge was nothing to the power he wielded now. First he would eliminate the criminals of this world. Then the God of Justice would turn his eye to Lelouch Lamperouge.

* * *

Lelouch was becoming worried. The media reported hundreds of criminals were dying every day, every single one of them from heart attacks. There was something strange about this, it seemed incredibly planned. This would prove troubling as his alias Zero had much power grounded in theatrics and attention grabbing. If he was written off as some side-show, it would certainly be easier to defeat the incompetent commanders but bringing the rest of Japan to his cause would be that much more difficult. Perhaps he could get someone to investigate the case. After quickly searching he sent a message to the world's second best detective.

_Eraldo Coil - Find L._

* * *

"That's why I call him Violet-eyes." Shirley chuckled, and Light laughed along with her. It was child's play to get into the student council, now it would be much easier to investigate Lelouch. Explaining why he never actually called him by his real name was a more elaborate story.

"So," he started "How long have you known Violet-eyes?" He tried easing into the conversation. Interrogating Shirley about Lelouch wouldn't go well.

"Oh, well I've known him since freshman year but..." She drifted off a little.

"Do you hang out a lot? You seem to know a bit about him."

"Not as much as I'd like to." Shirley muttered softly, before stammering "I mean, uh, yes, since we're on the student council there's a lot to be done together!" Shirley grew red in the face and a bit flustered when she saw Light smiling.

"Seems like there might be a bit more between you two than..." Light was getting somewhere now. If the feelings were reciprocated perhaps she could be used as leverage.

"No there's not!" Her face now turned a brilliant shade of red and Light let out a real laugh. "Stop laughing at me!"

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Lelouch entered the room "Oh. Light." he stated flatly. Light decided to play the odds.

"Shirley and I were just talking about how how she feels about..." Shirley shrieked and clapped her hand over his mouth. Lelouch seemed rather baffled at this turn of events.

"We were just talking about how I feel about Kira!" She flubbed an excuse.

"And who is Kira?" Lelouch asked

"Oh come now, Violet." Shirley snickered. That was good, forget what just happened girl. "You must have been watching the news. Kira is the alias given to the one that's supposedly killing all the criminals in the world" Lelouch frowned at light before speaking.

"Actually, no. This Kira fellow seems to be nothing but a mass murderer, killing all he deems unfit. I've been looking at more local news, like Zero. They say he's attempting to free Japan. He's a lot more newsworthy if you ask me."

Light looked at Lelouch, who looked back at him. The suspicion of each other was nearly tangible. Lelouch could not compel him to reveal his identity anymore, however he could not just write Lelouch in his Death Note. There was no such thing as a perfect crime and Light would not forsake justice on the rest of the world for Lelouch, who may or may not be Zero. But Light Yagami was destined to be God of the new world, no human, no matter the tricks would be allowed to best him.

"Is something wrong?" Shirley asked, as the two both looked to her.

"Oh no, nothing! Nothing at all!" They both smiled gently. Lelouch took the lead in their tango of lies.

"We're just a little tense because I'm planning to let Light play chess for me."

"Lulu! You know you shouldn't gamble with those sorts of people! It's dangerous!" So, Lelouch gambled on chess games with dangerous people. A bit of a thrill-seeker possibly, or was it something to pass the time. Anyhow it was his turn.

"Honestly, I've never been one for chess. Lelouch is really into it though, so I guess I'm giving it a shot." Nothing he just said was actually false. Lelouch apparently did like chess and dragged him into playing the game. Light never liked it because although chess may be known as the quintessential strategy game, it was not real. The rules of life were neither fair nor constrained. Defeat would come easily to all who believed that to be the case.

"Please Light, try to keep Lelouch away from dangerous things like that." Shirley pleaded. Light just gave a knowing smile.

"I'll do my best."


	3. Chapter 3

Code Light Chapter 3: Another New Face

* * *

Light interdigitated theatrically as he waited for his opponent to make his move. He looked over behind him where Lelouch stood smiling.

"You're doing quite well. It's hard to believe you've never played before." Clearly he was impressed. Light was not amused.

"Are you going to make your move now? I grow impatient." Light mused in an apathetic tone. This gained him a sharp look from Lelouch. His opponent was not looking altogether too placid but he was Light. He planned to purge everyone in this hive of scum and villainy with the power of the Death Note. He could hardly believe that he agreed to come with Lelouch. His opponent moved, his hand trembling.

"Bad move. Checkmate." Light muttered apathetically "How you could ever stand such a game I will never know, Violet. It is so dull, pieces are locked into patterns and contained in such a small space. Life is nothing like this dull game you find so entertaining." His opponent sat stunned before starting to shout about something. Light just stood up and motioned for Lelouch to follow.

"Well done Light, but your attitude seems rather vitriolic. You really shouldn't act that way around these kinds of people."

"I can't help it. Those who gamble are immediately subject to my disdain. They are the ones who make this world rotten."

Light was thankful that the gambling session ended quickly. He wished to end the entire establishment as quickly as possible. It had not been difficult, but tedious to acquire a list of the clientele along with the images. Quickly he set to work, his pen an instrument of absolute death purging the world of those impure.

"You seem to like it." A voice chuckled, slightly strained.

"Ahh!" Light cried out dropping his pen. Beside him stood a tall gaunt creature, with slate skin. Its eyes were yellow orbs and a pair of black feathered wings sprouted from his back.

"Why are you so surprised to see me? I'm Ryuk, the Death God who dropped that notebook."

"A Death God? I can't say I am all too surprised Ryuk. Though I would have thought you would have arrived sooner. I did not doubt this notebook held great power, but now I can act with more confidence."

"Well you surprise me. Of all the Death Notes that have made it to the human world, you're the only one who's gone this far in such a short time. Most people would be too scared to use it to this extent."

"Scared? I have been given a tool to cleanse the world. I am prepared to pass righteous judgement. But what is the price for this power, have you come to take my soul?"

"Eh? Whaddaya mean by that? Is that something you humans have come up with? I'm not going to do anything to you. As soon as it touched the ground it belonged to the human world. Meaning it is yours, however if you don't want it, give the notebook up and I'll erase your memories."

"You won't have to worry about that. I'll be taking this Death Note and my memories of it to the grave."

"Speaking of which, when you die I'll be writing your name in my Death Note. Just to make sure, you see. I'll be following you around until the time which you relinquish your Death Note and it would be a terrible thing to let you out of my sight."

"If that is how your system works, then why did you choose me to possess the Death Note in the first place?"

"Choose you? How arrogant, I merely dropped my note down here to have a little fun. And it seems like I hit the jackpot because you are definitely interesting."

"Ryuk, am I free to ask you questions relating to you and the Death Note?"

"Of course Light!" Ryuk spread his spindly arms out as if preparing to give him a hug. "That doesn't mean I have to answer, truthfully or at all though. I wouldn't want to make things easy for you, and therefore boring."

"I see." Light thought about this. Entertainment was Ryuk's sole motivation and something so trite could likely be used against him. "Ryuk, would I be correct in assuming I am the only one who can see you?" Ryuk chuckled

"You're a sharp one. Indeed you are the only human who can see me now." Ryuk had such a pleased expression. Or at least he interpreted it as such. Light looked at Ryuk suspiciously.

"You use human rather specifically, are you able to be seen by recording devices such as cameras, heat detectors and the like?"

"You are rather thorough, but the answer is no. However I can still interact with the world, so some object from your world may appear to float."

"However since you don't want this to be easy on me I couldn't just ask you to kill someone."

"Right. Hold on, have you already encountered someone whose name you can't write down in the notebook? My Light, you must be really busy to have found someone like that already. Must be quite a problem for you."

"I'll deal with him in time, Ryuk. I can find other ways."

* * *

Lelouch sat down in history and watched the door for Light. Looking at his watch, Light arrived 40 seconds after Lelouch sat down. It was subtle, but Light always made sure that he came in after Lelouch. He was not unprepared as he opened his sleek laptop, with a reflective Brittanian shine. With a built in camera he would be able to record Light's every move. Then the teacher began speaking, but Lelouch merely sighed and went over all available reports on the white knightmare that caused him so much trouble.

"We have another new student today. Please introduce yourself so we can get on with class."

"I'll be joining you all here at Ashford Academy starting today. I'm Suzaku Kururugi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Lelouch looked up, attempting to hide his surprise at his old friend's appearance. Perhaps he could use Suzaku to help investigate Light, or was that an unwise decision? Light seemed wise enough to detect if he was being observed and Suzaku would hardly agree to spying on someone. On top of that he and Suzaku couldn't act as if they knew each other, since it would reveal his identity as a prince. Still it would be worth a shot to rendezvous with him, as Suzaku walked towards his desk Lelouch nonchalantly tugged at his collar. It was an old signal they used to use and hopefully Suzaku had not forgotten. He apparently remembered because he tugged at his own collar in return as he sat down.

"All right then," the teacher started "I would like you all to write a paper on the Washington Rebellion and the repercussions of what would have been if Benjamin Franklin had not been bribed by the Duke of Brittania. I will allow you to work with a partner on this, which will be due in two days." A groan spread through the classroom. Lelouch rolled his eyes, even with Clovis' funeral it would be child's play to remain at the top of his class even if he had to balance the terrorists, research on the white knightmare and avoiding Light.

"So Suzaku, you're Japanese as well? If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to work with you. My name is Light." Lelouch looked up. Suzaku and Light working together? Perhaps he could get information about Light out if he casually talked to Suzaku. He had needed an informant to track Light and had been reluctant to use Geass, but now he didn't need to make that choice. With Suzaku he could put Light into check.

* * *

"Aww Light, I wanted to work with you!" Meeya sighed. Light constantly worked on building himself an army of followers, Lelouch could use his power to compel people absolutely but Light only had his intellect and the Death Note which would be too extreme for most cases. They were all just tools in the scheme of justice, but Suzaku might be the most important he found so far. From Lelouch's reaction and their gesture, it seemed as if they had known each other a long time. However where could the two have met, Japanese and Brittanian.

"Oh, sure. But I just arrived today so I don't actually have all the required materials yet, so I might not be much help."

"It's all right, here take this textbook." Light tossed him a textbook and several leafs of notebook paper "You work on the facts of the rebellion, I'll work on the hypothetical." Light got right to work writing up a draft, simultaneously evaluating his new relationship. Lelouch would also use Suzaku to spy on him so he would have to be careful, but that was redundant because as Kira he needed to be careful at all times.

"So Light, how did you get into Ashford Academy? Normally it's only for Brittanians so how did you get in?" Light decided on the truth, which he already revealed to the class.

"Each member of my family is registered as an honorary Brittanian. My father is a member of the NPA as well and this school is one of the best in Japan. And yourself?"

"Oh, well I'm sure you heard about my accusation. But a proper investigation found me innocent and the person who did felt like a 17 year old should be in school." Light thought a bit. The charges against Suzaku was the death of Clovis. However using a Japanese soldier as a scapegoat seemed like something the government would use to cover it up, so to go against the government it would take someone high-ranking, meaning a noble. However few, if any, nobles were sympathetic to the Japanese. A little research would find Suzaku's benefactor.

"Well it's good to know someone is interested in the truth." Light smiled "So can I see your work?"

"Sure, here you go." Looking over the paper it seemed that Suzaku empathized with the Brittanians because it him it seemed as if the rebellion was a waste of life. How idealistic, only by permanently ridding the world of the rotten elements could the world be purified. Just as he prepared to start writing he saw Ryuk prancing around looking at what the other students were doing. No matter how demonic he looked, Ryuk really was just a child with a morbid sense of entertainment. Then as Ryuk passed a window he stopped prancing. Frozen he stared out into the courtyard, an invisible gargoyle. Light wondered what could surprise a god of death before getting back to Suzaku. Ryuk wasn't going anywhere, he had time.

"Well, you go over a lot of these points well, but there are some missing details as well as grammatical and spelling errors. Then again english isn't your first language is it, so I suppose it's to be expected."

"Oh, I see." Suzaku said while looking his paper over "I guess I really should work on that then, huh?"

"If you need any help I could work with you after class." Light offered. Getting close to Suzaku seemed like it would be easy. Even after being vindicated from his crime, the Brittanian class would still harbor feelings of hatred for him. What rotten prejudice this school harbored.

"Oh, well I've got some things to do today. Maybe some other time?"

"That's all right, just find me if you ever need any help."

"So Ryuk," Light asked as soon as he was safely away in his room "What is it that has you so stunned?" Ryuk floated around a bit before asking

"Light. How much has your medical sciences advanced in the last few years? How long can humans live now?"

"Why Ryuk? What could be troubling a shinigami?"

"Light, do you know the difference between a human and a shinigami?"

"No, what is the difference?" Light asked. Ryuk was dodging the question, however it could be possible to squeeze additional information out of him.

"The first difference is that when a shinigami writes a name in their Death Note, the remainder of that human's life is added to the shinigami's own life span. When a human writes a name in a Death Note, their life is not extended. So no matter how many people you kill, your life will not be extended." Light found that interesting, however there was something else to be gained.

"And the second difference?"

"Light, the shinigami can kill at any time we wish. How do you think that is?" Ryuk paused, but Light waited for him to continue "Our eyes Light. That is the difference. A shinigami's eyes lets them see both the name and remaining life of the person. That way we can kill anyone we need to and we know exactly how much time we have left." Light rested his head on his hand in a ponderous look.

"Yes? What of it? It's not as if you are going to help me kill people by telling me their names."

"That's true Light, but another rule of the Death Note is that it cannot be used on those under 780 days old or those over the age of 124."

"The relevance of this? I am very busy, Ryuk."

"Don't you get it! There was a girl out there! Over that age and her lifespan _didn't show_! What is with this place?" Ryuk was doing handstands with his feet flailing in the air.

"What's the matter Ryuk, calm down." Light tossed him an apple "I thought you found this all interesting." The shinigami devoured the apple in four bites

"Sorry Light. I get withdrawal symptoms if I don't get my apples, but I guess you are right. This world is most interesting, especially everything around you."

"I know you don't want to help me, but would you reveal who this person is? I could do some investigation." Light was glad Ryuk had become so nervous as to let such a crucial piece of information go. Ryuk looked as thoughtful as his grotesque face would let him.

"All right. It was a girl who had gold eyes and green hair and her name was..."


	4. Chapter 4

Code Light Chapter 4: An Old Friend, An Immortal Witch

* * *

"Its been seven years since we used the signal." Lelouch smiled. It had been a long time since he'd been able to talk with Suzaku.

"Let's meet in the attic right?"

"Yeah. I'm glad to see your okay after saving me at Shinjuku." There was a moment of silence between them. Suzaku started the conversation up again.

"So do I still call you Lelouch?"

"My true name is listed as dead, but you can call me Lelouch Lamperouge." Lelouch looked down from the rooftop. "I hope you don't have too hard a time here. You being accused of Clovis' murder probably hasn't helped your standing with the student body. You can practically feel the tension among the other students when you walk into the room."

"I'll be all right. I seem to have made friends with that guy Light. I doubt it's much of a surprise though. Even though he's an eleven, most Brittanian students seem to have taken a liking to him."

"Well, that's Light I suppose. I don't really know him personally, but I suppose he does make friends rather easily." Lelouch was unsettled by Suzaku's closeness with Light. Perhaps Light had paired up with him in order to gain access to Lelouch. Did Light already suspect that he and Suzaku knew each other? No impossible, however then again he needed to be careful. "Hey Suzaku, did you decide to meet up with Light later today?"

"No, I said I was busy, Any reason why?"

"There's someone who would like to see you again." Lelouch's cell rang. "I'm sorry, let me take this." he exclaimed apologetically and took steps away from Suzaku. An unknown number. It couldn't be Ohgi could it? He opened his phone.

"Yes? Who is this?" Lelouch questioned in a stern voice.

"You called me." a voice with an obvious voice changer responded "I am L. You wished to speak with me?" Excellent! Now he could find if Kira's identity really is Light!

"It's good to finally speak with you L. I have been waiting for you to call."

"Indeed. Now, surely there must be a reason for you to contact me. It is not an easy task, what are you looking to have me do?"

"I want you to investigate the Kira case. It is of the utmost importance to reveal who he is." There was a long period of silence.

"I will look into the matter." The phone hung up.

* * *

Light casually walked through the Student Government Clubhouse, otherwise known as the Lamperouge residence. He made a suggestion to Sayoko earlier that since Nunnally was so fond of origami perhaps she would appreciate Japanese cooking, so she was getting the ingredients for a batch of oyakodon. He looked around for Lelouch's room when Ryuk tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? There are cameras everywhere here, I'd hate to have to leave this interesting world as a result of your carelessness."

"Of course Ryuk. Everything in this clubhouse is linked to a central system. As a student council member it was easy to access the cameras and disable them." Light used his shirt sleeve to open the door. He hated to do this himself but he couldn't very well ask Ryuk to do so. He opened the door and there was a girl on Lelouch's bed!

"That's her Light! The one with no lifespan." Ryuk pointed. Then he noticed a Pizza Hut box. "Ooh pizza, that's almost as good as apples! Can I have some Light?"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Her voice seemed strange and aloof. Inhuman and estranged from the world.

"Oh, Violet hasn't mentioned me? I'm Light. Sayoko is out getting some things so I'm here to look after Nunnally. I was just looking for her, but I'm afraid I don't know where her room is."

"Oh, is that so?"

"And if I could ask, who are you? Sayoko didn't mention having any guests and you don't appear to be related to Violet."

"My fate and that of Lelouch are intertwined inexorably." She stated it in a cold fashion. Then she seemed to catch on to something. "Why do you call him Violet?"

"Well how many people have purple eyes?" Light asked. He would have to be careful, she might not end up reacting well to his implications.

"Actually, there are quite a few..." she started, but Light had done his homework and whoever this was, had likely been conspiring with Lelouch.

"Other than the members of the royal family. In fact I believe Violet actually shares his name with one. On top of that Nunnally also shares the same first name, both children of Marionne the Flash. However records show that those two died a long time ago and Violet and Nunnally are still alive. So it must be coincidence."

"Why would you bother telling me this?" the girl lay back on the bed, not even paying attention to him anymore. She may have an interest in Lelouch, but it didn't seem too serious. But he couldn't go on interrogating her like this, it was time to leave. He could try again later.

"Just an observation. Anyhow I'd best go back to looking for Nunnally, it really isn't my business who you are." Light stepped back out. That was close.

"Giving up so easily?" Ryuk asked "You didn't get any information out of her. And I didn't get any pizza!"

"Ryuk if we stayed any longer she would have grown even more suspicious. She will likely report this and any further questions would have made our situation worse. Still it would have been nice to figure out what she was doing there. Maybe I could ask Suzaku." The chance that Suzaku knew her were slim,but it certainly couldn't hurt though. And then there was that symbol on her head, it seemed familiar somehow. Finding Lelouch's identity was a simple matter of looking into old records, but this would be more difficult.

"Good evening Nunnally!" Light greeted. Though the time for investigating was over, it would be strange if he did not look after Nunnally as he said to Sayoko.

"Good evening Light. What are you doing here?"

"Didn't Sayoko tell you? We were talking and when she mentioned how much you liked oragami, I thought you might also like Japanese cuisine. She thought it would be a great idea and set out right away. She should be back in an hour or two, but until then she asked me to stay with you." Light opened his messenger bag and removed his tablet. Most people in this age still regressed back to a sleek laptop, but Light was found of touchscreens. Primarily he was able to draw the symbol he saw and have a search for similar images. Most may have made the world rotten, but certainly there were some Brittanians out there dedicated to the betterment of humanity through their inventions. "By the way Nunnally do you know Suzaku Kururugi, son of former prime minister of Japan?" Her face lit up at the mention of Suzaku.

"Really? Suzaku is here? Oh it's been years, I can't wait to see him!"

"Well, I can't say for certain when he will come, but I'll try to get him here as soon as possible." Past that there was nothing but idle chatter between the two. Light scrolled through pages of images until he found it. It was an image of an old broken down church near Stonehenge and the symbol above the door greatly resembled the one on the girl's head.

"I'm back." Sayoko called "Thank you for looking after Nunnally, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Oh no, I couldn't impose on you like that." It would not go over well to have dinner with Lelouch. On top of that he needed to continue purging which he could not fall behind. He had been spending an increasing amount of time time investigating Lelouch which was subtracting time away from cleansing the world. However if he was able to acquire the same power Lelouch had, he would be able to cleanse the world more efficiently.

"Wouldn't you stay with us Light? Please?" Nunnally pleaded. Light let out an exasperated sigh, he needed to retain his standing as a close friend to all those close to Lelouch. Perhaps having dinner now would be less of a gamble than if he encountered Lelouch later.

"All right, I'll stay."

"Heh. Just can't resist the whims of a blind girl, can you Light?" Ryuk laughed in a mocking tone. Of course the shinigami was ignored as always, Light would never let such trite comments get to him.

"Light, could you cook the rice while I make sauce?"

"Of course Sayoko, but I'm not much of a cook." Light was a model son, always helping around the house. However he never made meals, it was the child prodigies one weakness. After several minutes Sayoko quickly rushed over and looked into the pot Light stood watch over.

"Light," she asked timidly "How did you manage to burn the rice? I guess it will have to do."

"Sorry Sayoko but my hand in the kitchen is cursed." There was a slight resentment for making himself look like a fool.

"What is that smell?" The girl with the green hair came into the room. "It seems as if you can't even cook a decent batch of rice. I thought Lelouch said you were smart." Light maintained a smile over his grimace. She was definitely worse than even Ryuk when it came to scathing comments. Mantaining his composure he pulled a chair out for her and gestured for her to sit down.

"Well I'm sure it will be fine C.C." Sayoko tried to diffuse the tension that was building between the two. Perhaps she shouldn't have invited Light to stay with C.C. around. Light smiled, he had her initials when Ryuk interrupted his internal gloating.

"Light, I already told you you couldn't kill her. She's too old for one thing, and her name only has one C." Light almost reflexively questioned him before realizing he was with company. "I guess you're going to have to deal with her for a long time." With careful planning he wouldn't actually have to deal with her, she would be incapacitated soon enough. He just had to deal with Lelouch first.

"I'm back Say..." Lelouch's voice fell as he instantly surveyed the scene. The corner of his mouth was practically twitching. "Light?"

"Violet."

"Hey Light!"

"Suzaku?"

"Nunally!"

"Sayoko..."

"Yes, master Lelouch?"

"What..."

"Girl from Shinjuku!"

"Yes?"

"Ryyyuuuuuuuuuuk!" Of course, no one but Light could see or hear Ryuk, but it was mildly disconcerting from all the other chaos that was in motion. Nunnally seemed excited to see...well... to hear Suzaku, who in turn was interested in this C.C. character. There was competition for attention and Light decided to step in.

"How about we all sit down and take a breath now." Light tried to get them talking one at a time to absorb all of their conversations. Sayoko quickly went along with his plot and handed out the bowls of oyakodon. Suzaku started questioning first.

"You're the girl from the capsule! Who are you and why are you here with Lelouch?"

"Well the soldiers realized who I was, I was free to go. After seeing C.C. they really couldn't take her and she's been staying with me ever since."

"Doesn't she have anywhere else to go?"

"I am right here you know. I won't have you talking about me talking about me as if I am elsewhere." Suzaku looked slightly embarrassed, but Lelouch just shot her a glare. He probably didn't want to talk about what was going on near anyone. The lack of new information was exactly why Light did not wish to stay for dinner, such a waste of time. Several moments of an awkward silence passed. After the group fiddled with their food for a while.

"So," Light started "How long have you known each other?" Suzaku and Lelouch glanced at each other, their hesitation cueing Light in on their secret. Lelouch might be on his guard but Suzaku wasn't. "If I was to guess, I'd say you two met a little before the Brittanian invasion of Japan, am I right?" Everyone turned to Light with surprised looks other than C.C.

"He already knows you're royalty Lelouch. And likely a bit more than that." she sighed. Lelouch's face contorted into a mix of shock and rage. "Don't look at me like that, he'd figured it out already."

"Indeed I have, it wasn't so hard. Both you and your sister's names matched those of allegedly deceased royalty, I assume you've renounced your bid for the throne in order to keep yourself safe." The room remained silent. "I think I'll go now, this is becoming exceedingly awkward. Don't worry you have my word that I won't tell a soul about this." He gracefully stood up and left, leaving a stunned room behind.


	5. Chapter 5

Code Light Chapter 5:Book Hunt

* * *

How did he figure it out? Lelouch knew he had to be wary of Light but this was an entirely different level! It was true that both his and Nunnally's names remained the same but...Lelouch stopped where his train of thought was going. Lelouch and Nunnally? Of course it wouldn't be a coincidence, how many people had those names it was practically a beacon. He would have to find another way to neutralize Light now that he had already been geassed. He couldn't afford to underestimate him again, so Lelouch had to assume there was already a contingency in place in case he ordered someone to kill him. However could that really lead to a detrimental effect to him, the killing couldn't be traced back. It could though, because Light may have planned that in the event of his death he would release Lelouch's identity as a prince, which would endanger Nunnally. He let out a groan and slammed his hand on the table, which caused everyone else to look at him. A bit too late he remembered he was still at the table eating the rice Light had cooked rather poorly.

"What will shall you do sir?" Sayoko asked "He doesn't seem to be bearing any ill will to you or your sister so I doubt he would try anything."

"I don't think he means any harm Lelouch. I believe he will keep his word."

"He will keep his word brother." Nunnally stated confidently "I am sure of it. He means us no harm, I can feel it." Nunnally did have an ability to sense people's emotions, but Lelouch was thinking she'd been fooled for the first time. Light's ability to fool Nunnally's intuition unsettled him and almost made him think that Light wasn't up to anything. Perhaps his suspicions of Light were unfounded, there was no evidence of Light, Kira or not, being an opposition to the downfall of the Brittanian empire. In fact he may even become an asset, Kira killed the criminals of society and while Lelouch could not condone that, for the time being he could be used to rid himself of the powerful opponents. Still Light's geass was much of a mystery and he would have to be wary.

"All right," Lelouch sighed "Although I don't like word of our secret getting out, I trust Nunnally's judgement and I too believe we can trust him. However he is quite an awful cook, so I think I'm going to head back to my room now." He almost rolled his eyes at his pathetic excuse and cast a glance back at Suzaku "Sorry we couldn't really chat longer, it's just a bit on the hectic side.." Suzaku smiled.

"Take it easy Lelouch, I'll see you soon." Suzaku turned to Nunnally and they started talking. Exhausted Lelouch headed to his room, C.C. in tow.

"So what are you planning to do about him?"

"I'm not sure," Lelouch stared at his Zero mask as he sat on the edge of his bed "Perhaps if he is Kira I could use him. Kira strikes mostly at criminals and if Kira and Light are one and the same he would have a rather negative disposition towards the royal family."

"You are the royal family, even Light's figured that out."

"Why must you say things like that? Now I have work to do, Cornelia's looking for Zero so I should start planning ahead now." He turned away from C.C. and strolled over to his computer and got to work.

"I do have your best interests in mind you know, I can't have you dying. But even if you assess his risk correctly, he may be more of a wild card than you anticipate."

Lelouch woke up the next morning his paper ready to be top of his class, his Zero costume tucked away in a hidden compartment and his plans for defeating Cornelia stored in the recesses of his mind. As he headed through the dining room Sayoko had a breakfast of a simple bagel and orange juice. A simple meal, as if to take his mind off the fact his secret had been discovered. Sayoko also handed him two lunches.

"Nunnally insisted that I give you an extra lunch for Suzaku. If it is all right with you, she requests that you would deliver it to him."

"Of course." He couldn't refuse Nunnally's request, but she should know that he and Suzaku weren't supposed to know each other. Well, there was not much to do about it, so Lelouch stepped out on his way to his morning history class. Of course his morning could not be carried out in peace as he saw Rivalz waving at him. It was not so much that he disliked Rivalz, but his personality couldn't be described as intriguing.

"Hey Lelouch, what's going on?"

"Not much at all Rivalz. Just going to class as we do every day."

"Aww, you know what I'm talking about!" Rivalz suddenly hushed his voice "It's only been a couple days but there are already rumors about, people are thinking you're a little too friendly with the Elevens. " Lelouch just looked back at him "Not that I mind but people aren't exactly looking you at the same way, because of how you've befriended them."

"Rivalz," Lelouch shook his head "They are both excellent students better than most of the student body. I enjoy their company and friends should stick together despite discrimination."

"Yeah. Friends should stick together." Rivalz looked crestfallen. Lelouch interpreted that something had happened with Milly and thought best not to bring it up.

"We should get moving Rivalz."

Indeed as Lelouch entered the morning history class, it seemed as if Rivalz may have been right for once. The gazes that fell upon him did not feel as if they were in admiration, but felt as if they were suspicious of him. The sensation discomforted him, being watched so intently. He would never would falter in front of an opponent, returning even the most competent chessmasters glare, but this swarm of insignificant fellows judgement made him feel self conscious. Lelouch mentally reassured himself that the only reason they stared was because of his contact with Light and Suzaku. Suzaku, who he was most likely going to have to eat lunch with. At least Light seemed to be similarly cautious about his interaction with Lelouch.

"All right, you all have your papers to turn in? Cool. Do so now." Lelouch whipped his head upwards and noticed that there was a substitute teaching. He should have noticed earlier, he felt like he was getting slow, he needed to stay more alert. Lelouch tried to notice anything he may have missed. Light had not arrived yet and though he usually showed up late, this was later than he would usually arrive. Where could he be?

* * *

"Where are we headed, Light?" Ryuk asked looking out the window of the plane.

"Ryuk, do you pay any attention at all to what I am doing at any moment in time? We are going to the birthplace of Sakuridite. It seems that the symbol on C.C.'s head is the same as one from an old religious order. She doesn't act the way a new age cult member would, so I'm doing some research."

"Do we really got to fly all the way there? How could you even come up with enough money for this fancy can of yours?"

"Even the scum of the world can accumulate money, Ryuk. I simply putting it to a more noble use now." He pressed a small button on the side of the chair "Land now."

"Yes, sir."

"Ryuk, it really is a good thing I can control a person for 23 days before they die or else I have no idea where I would find all the volunteers to do so."

As his pilot waited aboard the jet, Light strolled throughout town searching for the library in search of records. As he came to the place he was unsure wether it would be any help to him. It lay wedged between two stores, one sleek and from modern times, the other looked like it had never undergone reconstruction. An absolute shack lacking even the rustic charm that seemed so pervasive in these countrysides. As Light slipped through the door he slipped in edgewise to avoid knocking over the towers of books that seemed to cover every available space. Now it seemed to him that this place would have the information he needed, but he would never be able to find it. Trying to make his way to what appeared to be the front desk a long manuscript caught his eye. _The Enigmatic Cult of Geass and its Surrounding Tales_. Weighing it, it seemed to be several hundred pages of old, musty parchment.

"Excuse me," a female voice asked "but do you need any help finding anything? I'm afraid that the owner is away on business for an undetermined amount of time, but I will help you if I can." Light turned to see a young woman also of Japanese descent in her late 20s with black hair and dark eyes that glinted with an intelligence.

"No." Light responded mellowly "I believe I have found what I am looking for."

"Ah, wait let me see what you have there." She quickly slipped through the columns of books "So you were specifically looking for something like this? May I ask what for?" She seemed to have a point driving her inquiry, so Light cut her off.

"School research project. May I take this and look at it for several hours? I'd hate to have to read it in this cramped space."

"Go on right ahead. This is actually a private collection and the owner loves it when people shows interest in these old stories, so I am sure he would be fine as long as you eventually return it."

"It won't take too long." Light said already scanning through the book. As he stepped outside he walked over to a bench and began to read.

"Man Light, you seemed a bit cold compared to how you usually act. She was just trying to make some conversation."

"No, in fact she was not. Had you noticed the entire place was covered in dust except for this document here. By the way she asked about it, she had been recently reading this trying to get some information out of this. When I came along wanting this book she thought she could get something out of me, so I decided to play it safe and get out of there."

"So what are you figuring out in that old thing?"

"Well, it seems C.C. may have been the one to start the geass religion. If she is as old as you say, that puts her at the time this religion began. It only existed for a few short years before collapsing along with its fanaticism in the early days a phenomenon. Religions don't simply spring out of the ground for several years. According to this villagers of this town met a beautiful green haired girl, who attracted the attention of all she met. However it seems their devotion to her collapsed and they turned on her burning her at stake. The thing is her body was never found." Light continued to finger through the pages pointing at various photographs that had been clipped in with original older documents. "The author has already compiled original sources with his own hypotheses and look at these pictures. In each of them a girl remarkably similar to C.C. it could very well be the same person. Now according to this author..."

"Hey Light." Ryuk interrupted. "You may like your book and all but in case you haven't noticed there are some shady guys around." Light taking heed of the Shinigami's warning and feigned looking at his book while his eyes flicked across the park. Five in his field of view wearing dark and face obscuring clothing moved slowly towards Light in a non-direct zig-zagging way. Slowly standing he tried to make his way back to the book store, nonchalantly. He crossed a street and as soon as a car blocked their line of sight he took off in a dash.

It was a problem running through a small town, the crowds were thin and impossible to diappear into. Light wondered what his pursuers might want and if he could reconcile his escape if he was caught. No, he would not be caught. As he hurdled a pile of rubbish in an alley he was pleased with his resolutions to keep physically fit. One strong of mind, but weak of body is only half the man he could be. Landing gracefully he turned to an empty street. Congratulating himself on a job well done, he fell unconscious.

* * *

Author's Note  
Sorry this one is out so late, I try to get at least 2k words per chapter. If you hadn't noticed I am trying to put Lelouch in the spotlight more, but it's difficult because while Light is a chessmaster of the up close and personal kind, Lelouch is usually more adept at battlefield tactics. There is some difficulty in pitting the two against each other so I hope you understand if some posts are late.


	6. Chapter 6

Code Light Chapter 6:A Botched Chapter So I can Get Back into the Flow of Writing, so excuse it for being Really Awkward at the End; Also Excuse this Stupidly long Title with Wild Capitalization.

* * *

"So Suzaku, have you seen Light lately?" Lelouch asked as he handed Suzaku the lunch Sayoko had given him.

"No, actually, I haven't. It's odd because he doesn't really seem to be the type to miss school. You don't suppose he's..."

"No." Lelouch shook his head "He's known for a while now and I don't believe he would do so, especially now that we know he knows." They continued to walk across school grounds and Suzaku noticed a group of students staring at them from the corner of his eye.

"I think I should go now." Suzaku started to turn away. Maybe we can talk later." Lelouch just nodded and kept his head down as he walked away. Albeit the complete lack of evidence, he was convinced that Light was Kira. But before he could approach Kira to use him, he needed to learn the source of his power. Knowing Kira's limitations would make it far easier to manipulate him and deployed him effectively. C.C. said she did not know what his geass could be, so he would have to find it out through rigorous research. First he would need to dig deeper into Light's past, which was easy to pull up at the library, even though he had less than an hour of lunch left to work with. Strangely enough, there was nothing in his past that would suggest contact with someone who could distribute geass. Before his arrival at Ashford, no strange events or occurrences surrounded him. His only ambition seemed to be intellectual rigor. A dead end, Light seemed to have gained his power without reason. Setting aside how the geass was acquired Lelouch tried to find limits, but he couldn't. There seemed to be no limit to range, at will it seemed Light could kill with a heart attack. The only conceivable limitation is that deaths happened on the hour, every hour. Could it be he was unable to de-activate his geass or was he simply taxing it to its once per hour limit? However C.C. mentioned that the geass manifested in line with an individuals desires, so what did Light want to gain an ability that outright killed people? Granted, all that died as of this moment were criminals, but gradually the severity of their crimes had been decreasing and once the criminals eventually ran out? Then Lelouch thought about it and found it ridiculous because at only one an hour, there were easily more than enough criminals for the rest of Light's life. So Lelouch's worries of Light's power racking the citizenry were unneeded and Nunnally would be safe from random slayings. However he would need to take care that he did not appear to seem criminal to Light, lest the geass take his life. So his entire speculations of the power would change depending on Light's inner personality. The problem would be finding those inner motives, for it seemed that Light constantly wore his mask and had no true associates to probe for information meaning he would have to collect it personally.

Lelouch sighed as his gaze wandered around the silent library. Most of the diligent students that spended their time studying to become perfect cogs in the machine, except for one odd shoe-less student he couldn't recognize because their face was obscured by a mountain of books. He would probably end up less than perfect. So carefree they must be, content to sit atop the social ladder with no greater ambitions content to lead ambition-less lives. Perhaps not ambition-less, just unable to see the grander scheme of things. He quickly made his way past them to class to continue his ponder there. As he passed back across the open courtyard, Lelouch watched the eyes of the judgmental watching him. Every day there seemed to be more who watched him with contempt, shortsighted fools who basked in conflict as long as they emerged triumphant. He wondered what Light's stake in all this was if he was Kira, were his intentions noble? Lelouch himself only did this for Nunnally, nothing more noble than a familial tie. He really needed to try to keep his mind off of Light for now. Perhaps he would be able to dive back into schoolwork to his pre-geass state.

Once Lelouch emptied his mind the day went swiftly. The day breezed by, taking only a modicum of his intellect to accomplish the school tasks. C.C. waited for him as he returned after school.

"Having a good day, are we?"

"Hm?" Lelouch hardly registered the snide tone.

"Why are you in such a daze? We do have things to do you know. Are you not the one who plans to overthrow the Brittanian Empire? Have you found any more information on Light?" As she heckled him, Lelouch regained ground in the conversation.

"There is nothing on him. He is perfectly perfect. Excellent grades, no trauma in his childhood, nothing out of the ordinary has happened to him. The only thing I managed to find out about was the fact that the deaths always occur every hour on the hour. The fact that every victim is also is a criminal we already knew."

"Essentially you found nothing on him."

"There is nothing to find out about him! He is the most generic person who could ever exist! This should be impossible for someone who does so much to leave so little trace."

"So you did not find where he went today?"

"No I did not." Lelouch fumed. He knew she knew something and just enjoyed toying with him. He tried calming himself.

"You did not bother ask his family where he went?" Lelouch went silent. She already asked one of his family, so it didn't really matter if he disagreed. However he couldn't let her get off scot free though.

"That could have ended badly. The government is likely still searching for you."

"I can take care of myself Lelouch." There was a moment of silence before C.C. realized she wasn't getting any more out of him. "His sister Sayu informed me that she saw a book on mythology. From there I can only infer that he is going to a small town near Stonehenge."

"What reason could he have for visiting the origin of sakuridite?"

"Isn't it obvious Lelouch? He isn't visiting the birthplace of sakuridite, he's visiting the birthplace of Geass."

* * *

Lelouch looked over his Zero attire. He couldn't very well follow Light without raising suspicion and there was a lull in Brittanian countermeasures. Nunnally passed by his open door and Lelouch kicked himself for being grateful she was blind.

"Yes Nunnally?" He asked and stood up leaving behind his guise.

"The tea is ready, are you coming?"

"Of course, I just got a little caught up in my thoughts." Lelouch set down the mask on top of the case and walked over to her side. "Let's go." As he slid the door closed behind him a black cat sped out of his room wearing the mask. He almost walked off with Nunnally and did a double take before momentarily freezing up.

"Gah!" He gasped and took off in a pathetic sprint after the cat "Hold on Nunnally, I'll be right back!"


	7. Chapter 7

Code Light Chapter 7: A Step Up

* * *

Light groaned as he slowly woke to Ryuk's yammering.

"Hey Light are you awake? I can't believe they got you so easy. You should get a look of this place, its crazy! I've mostly stuck here but apparently there's someone named V.V. running the place. Haven't seen him yet but by is name do you think he's another one of those immortals?" Light looked right through Ryuk to observe his surroundings. The room was spartan with one wall being made sheerly out of some translucent material and his possesions had been taken from him. He most likely was imprisoned now, but for what reason? He doubted that any would have discovered he was Kira. Perhaps due to his research on geass he had been mistaken for Zero? Unlikely again, anyone with access to these resources and the ability to capture him was no fool. Perhaps waiting would be the best of solutions. His captors may think they could strike a deal with him if he appeared calm. Light did not wait long before a boy with hair longer than his body showed up. Light wasn't all too surprised, if this was the immortal Ryuk spoke of then he would have stopped aging at some point.

"Welcome Light Yagami. I do apologize for the conditions in which we meet, but one in my position must be careful."

"What do you want with me?" Light kept his tone even and slightly curious, though he guessed that this boy wondered where he got his ability to kill. It wasn't a geass power after all.

"Straight to the point are we?" He chuckled with an annoying high pitched laugh. His face suddenly darkened as his voice became serious. "We suspect that you are Zero." Light watched him from behind a calm face. The neurons which served him so well put themselves to work. Why would they think that? This appeared to be a faction of the Brittanian Empire meaning Zero held value only as an enemy commander to barter with the terrorists. However the only person they could take as influential enough to strike a deal would be Zero himself. So as a bartering chip he was out. Light knew, or at least had grounds to believe that Zero was Lelouch, a Brittanian citizen. However the Emperor had not gone after him, so they either did not know or there was reason to stall perhaps since Lelouch was of the royal family. Most likely though to them he was an extreme patriot or hated Brittania a great deal, either way they weren't recruiting him. In any of these scenarios they would only benefit to kill Zero. Yet here he was still alive. The boy had lied.

It wasn't to great a surprise so what did he want? The other logical option was that they knew he was Kira, but how. It dwaned on him that they had taken and most likely searched his belongings, finding and reading the Death note. Well it would be impossible to feign innocence, so Light played the offensive.

"V.V., You know I'm not Zero. You do know that I am in fact, Kira. So I ask of you again, what do you want with me?" The boy's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, however more in an expression of curiosity than in surprise.

"You were ranked as one of the smartest student in Area 11 and even would have good standing on a global stage. I see that that designation is not unwarranted." Light remained silent. "Well then I'll ask you some questions. Do you know who Zero is?"

"Do I comply and present myself as easily subjugated, or do I resist and risk punishment?" The question likely was a test, and one does not simply lock wills with the god of the new world.

"Ah, you think we already know and are asking you to test your compliance?"

"You do know, but I feel as if I've derailed this plot of yours to tell you it's Violet-eyes and be done with it." V.V. gave a questioning look at him for a moment before realizing. Light picked up on it and was glad. As smart as he tried to appear he was still only human, more or less.

"Violet-eyes? That could mean nearly anyone, but it does imply the royal family." Light grew tired of the charade.  
"Violet-eyes, goes by the name of Lamperouge at Ashford Academy. Son of Emperor Charles and Lady Marianne, brother of Nunnally vi Brittania. The first day we met he thought me for a standard student who posed some sort of threat and used a poorly worded geass to keep me from speaking or writing his name."

"And yet you've done nothing about it." he mocked

"Shall we stop playing games? You know I attempted to write his name in the Death Note. That is my only weapon by which I am untraceable. My power is absolute, but not nearly as flexible as geass. Since you don't want him dead, you know I can only kill but am unable to kill him, what do you want from me."

"To keep watch over him." Light let his face turn to one of a tempered rage.

"Is that all?" He was rather furious to be interrupted for such a trite task.

"He may be important to Charles' plan. In fact it is by my brother's request that we are doing this."

"And my reward for this is my life?"

"Oh no, we aren't so brutal. Charles very much admires your convictions as he is safe from your list, as am I. He thinks we should reward you with geass."

"Do all Immortals have the ability to grant geass?"

"Once again exceeding our expectations! And I rather like the term Immortals, much nicer than code-bearers and yes it is true."

"I assume you have experimented and there are no negative repercussions?"

"There are none other than those provided by your own individual geass."

"Then let us proceed." Light allowed the edge of his mouth to turn up to a smile. Ryuk, who had silently intrigued with the conversation spoke aloud, mostly to himself for he knew Light wouldn't respond.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this but I have to admit. Humans are so very...interesting..."


	8. Chapter 8

Code Light Chapter 8: BattLe In The Works

* * *

Lelouch and Suzaku sprinted up the stairs after the the cat. Suzaku naturally wound up the tower with great ease as Lelouch struggled his chest heaving.

"Slow down you exercise nut!" He called after his old friend. Suzaku did not heed his calls and Lelouch swore internally. If he saw the mask than what would he do? He worked for the Brittanian military, even if it was just the research division. Which way would his loyalties fall if he found out his identity as Zero? He had saved his life once, but it quickly became apparent that their ideologies differed. Lelouch gasped for breath and pushed his spindly frame up the stairwell as he heard a crash.

Chest heaving as he rounded the top stairs, Lelouch saw Suzaku with the cat in his arms. But where was the mask? At the very least Suzaku had not seen it, so there were small blessings to be had. Suzaku looked up to Lelouch, cradling the reluctant feline in his arms.

"Milly said it had something but I didn't see anything, did you?"

"No no, not at all." Perhaps his response was a little too hasty, however as good a friend as he was Suzaku had rather trusting tendencies. Perhaps he could not be faulted for that, for they had been friends for a long time.

"Well then, I guess she'll just have to settle for the cat won't she?"

"Indeed she will." Lelouch scanned the area as he searched for clues to his mask.

"Are you looking for something? You seem a bit distracted."

"Just seeing if I could find whatever Milly was looking for, that's all." The pair walked to the clubhouse. Lelouch wondered what Suzaku did for the research sector. Perhaps with a careful geass he could acquire powerful schematics for the rebellion, like the white knightmare in Shinjuku. What was he thinking, he couldn't use geass on his oldest friend. Couldn't or wouldn't? Wouldn't or shouldn't? Lelouch backed himself into a corner within his own mind. To what ends would he exploit those around him to make the world a safer place for Nunnally? Would a world brought to peace by way of an irresistible force be one that Nunnally would wish to live in? He stewed on the issue.

"Lelouch," Suzaku started "What do you think of Zero?" Lelouch snapped out of his contemplation and opted to say what he really thought. Making a statement against his nature would be suspicious.

"Honestly, I believe he has the right idea. Japan has been longing for freedom and it would seem as though Zero will be the one to do that. The emperor would never let Japan secede peacefully. If Zero is as intelligent as he appears to be, he may be able to relinquish it from Brittania's rule quickly and permanently."

"Lelouch what do you think would happen if it happened that Light is Zero? He seemes intelligent enough to be Zero, he proved that by discovering your identity. He definitely has the charisma to lead the terrorists as well, even as an eleven like myself he does make friends with a good deal of people around here."

"In that case we should be extremely careful. However with the knowledge that he there must be some reason he has not come after me."

"I think its because you two are so much alike."

"What?"

"When Zero freed me from my trial, the way he spoke it sounded so much like you. Your intelligences seem to match. And the way you speak about Japan, he probably sees himself in you. If you were an eleven, he would probably directly ask you to join his side." If it had been a more proper time and place Lelouch would have laughed.

"Suzaku, what do you do in the research and development division? Who are the important people?"

"Lelouch, I don't think I can tell you that." Suzaku was taken aback by his fervent questioning.

"This is important Suzaku! I need to know if there is something that Light is chasing after."

"I work on weapons development."

"More specific than that!"

"I can't say." Lelouch sighed. He'd gone to far and Suzaku had shut down. Suzaku's conviction to the system was greater than Lelouch's powers of persuasion. They walked in silence back to the clubhouse. As they entered, Milly came out to greet them.

"Rats! Lelouch got to it first. Mind telling me what the cat had?"

"Nothing at all actually." Suzaku stated "should it have had something?"

"Never mind. You two run along now." Milly sighed. "Go run along now you two."

"So what did the cat have?" Suzaku asked after there were no extra ears around.

"Just some old keepsakes."

"I never pictured you as the sentimental type." Lelouch sighed. Lying seemed to come easily at this point, even to his friends now. However it certainly made things simpler.

* * *

"So have you found your mask yet?" Once again C.C. snide tone pushed Lelouch's mood into one more unpleasant than that he was previously in.

"Why must you always speak like that?"

"You've recently been getting more and more irritable. Is there a reason for this?" Lelouch flopped down on his bed and stared at his feet. "My plans for defeating Brittania have been accelerated, but not to the degree I expected. This is pathetic, running simple raids. Suzaku's rescue and Shinjuku are the only real events I've had so far that truly asserted me as a formidable power!"

"I thought you were better than this Lelouch. You've been too distracted with Light, he's making you lose focus of your original goal. Forget him for now find yourself a way to make a show of Zero. You mustn't always wait for the enemy to make the first move." C.C. gazed off for a moment before pulling his mask out of seemingly nowhere. "However it is slightly too late to be proactive. Cornelia is making a move at Saitama. If you'd spent less time puzzling over whether Light is Kira you would have heard. She's made a direct challenge to you, so it is undoubtedly a trap. It is best to approach carefully." Lelouch let out a loud laugh and C.C. raised an eyebrow at his mood swing.  
"C.C. approaching carefully is not needed in this situation. I know Cornelia far too well for any of her tricks to work. She will attempt to play on the confidence of Zero to defeat him and yet she has practically guaranteed in her mind that this ploy will work. Besides if she's gone through the trouble to invite me how could I refuse?"

"Lelouch, you are taking this far too lightly..."

"He has nothing to do with this." C.C. groaned

"I never knew you had such a poor sense of humor. Perhaps my decision to offer you my contract was an incorrect assessment of you on my part."

"Of course a witch wouldn't recognize humor." Lelouch stood up and carefully tucked his helm away with the rest of his guise as he headed for the door, "No need to worry, by tomorrow I will have the information I need from Cornelia."

* * *

The board for the upcoming battle was set, but the pieces had yet to be arranged. Lelouch contacted several of the resistance cell leaders, first and foremost Ohgi. Though his tactical skills were lacking, he aided him in the rescue of Suzaku. Ohgi seemed to have faith in him, as well as the fact that Kallen followed him. He kept their conversation brief.

"This is Zero. I have new orders."

"Zero? I was expecting you to call at some point. Are we going to fight Cornelia on her own terms."

"Indeed."

"But that's crazy! Cornelia..."

"No arguments. I shall deal with her." Ohgi remained silent for a moment.

"We're putting our trust in you Zero."

"And it isn't misplaced. Rally your forces and be ready for tomorrow."

"I think I will discuss this with the others first. It reeks of a trap and I won't have them dying needlessly. " Ohgi wasn't much of a leader but he did have a true dedication to his people. Admirable, but not what Lelouch required in the situation at hand.

It was unfortunate that Ohgi's forces were the only ones he had to call upon. The splintered resistance movements would be hard to mobilize and he would have to do it on the spot. Now he could only hope that they would be disciplined enough to follow them. Lelouch decided to rest, because he could only make the first move before Cornelia took her turn.

* * *

Himself, Mitsugi Minase, Shuichi Aizawa and an idiot named Matsuda who's foremost purpose was to fetch him coffee. That was what he had to work with. He stirred his spoon around in his bowl to find that it was empty. Looking back at the screen he decided first things first, before he could catch Zero/Kira he would need more ice cream.


	9. Chapter 9

Code Light Chapter 9: Blue makes a move

* * *

It had begun. Lelouch would have cringed if he weren't already used to it. The Brittanians had begun their "purging" of the elevens and he waited on standby. He needed to let the atrocity truly commence before he would be able to take control of the local resistance with their total obedience. He watched the radar in the Sutherland he...acquired from the Brittannian pilot he tricked. The small flashes of gunfire were just visible from the rubble where he remained stationed. It was time to move out. He tuned his radio and broadcasted to the resistance's channels. They yielded to him as soon as he spoke the name Zero, so easily led. Saitama played out as a rerun of Shinjuku. Until Cornelia surprised him.

"All units fall back!" Cornelia broadcasted to all troops. Did she have no stomach for battle or did she have a plan.

"N1, re-engage your IFF. Operate as a Brittanian unit." Perhaps Cornelia would fall for the decoy and believe it held him, either way N1 would be lost. Nevertheless you couldn't win a game of chess without losing a few pieces. Cornelia's guard charged in, as N1 attempted to make a stand but was quickly taken. Time to move his pieces.

"N2, transmit signal and fall back to the hospital ruins; R1, R2, hold your positions, only fire is attacked." But Cornelia wasn't having any of it. She must have expected a trap and had her units surround the area. He quickly commanded R1 and R2 to abort, who narrowly escaped.

"P2, P3 circle behind the enemy." He recieved no response. "P2, P3 can you hear me?"

"There's no way we can beat the royal guard, I'm out!" His pieces were abandoning the field and surrendering. Lelouch heard each group plea for surrender to be shot down. Did they expect any different? If they followed orders they could have lived! A final garbled scream came from B7s knightmare

"Zero! You said you would lead us to victory!" The sound of approaching nightmares followed by explosions.

* * *

The gloucesters may have been machines designed for war, but they had been designed by humans who do have an uncanny ability to make things in their image. It also would have helped that the knees had not been reinforced since not many pilots expected to be tackled by another knightmare frame. Aizawa deftly knocked out two of the knightmares at once, smashing the popliteal mechanisms. Would that be accurate, calling them popliteal? It most definitely was analogous to the knee in a human. He wasn't suited to the quick paced nature of battle but he thought he picked it up pretty quickly. He took another bite of delicious cake.

"Minase, if you would be so kind as to rescue that poor man in the knightmare. Matsuda, smash those factshpheres, you're very good at ruining things."

"Hey!" Matsuda shouted back. Naive he may have been, but Matsuda was an excellent shot and after a short period of training excellent at piloting a knightmare. Watching from his own factspheres, he saw the Brittanian forces begin to advance. It would be best to destroy the royal guard now, but he could surprise the Brittanians later with a ruthless streak if he ever got into a tight situation.

"Aizawa, make a fuss. We'll try to find Kira." Springing from building to building, Shuichi unleashed a fanfare of missiles. Perhaps too obvious a ploy, but it would serve as a distraction.

* * *

Lelouch breathed heavily as he clambered down the collapsing ruins. At the last minute three khaki nightmares unlike those he'd ever seen before appeared out of nowhere. They were thin and extremely nimble moving faster than any he'd seen before. Were they a new design from another resistance group, or someone else? He'd escaped with his life, but his victory had been usurped by a newcomer. Cornelia hadn't played fair in this battle, but even she did not expect another player.  
"I will not lose again..." Lelouch muttered aloud "I will make it so that I am unstoppable! I will raise an army that acts as a people! A nation!" This defeat would not end him, he would only grow stronger. Charles would fall by his hand and by no other!

Lelouch rubbed his temples as he walked back along the streets. The design of those knightmares would be something to puzzle out. And who lead them? They were only involved for a matter of minutes, but the skilled execution of such innovative techniques required quick thinking. A thought passed through his head. Intelligent and quick-thinking. Able to persuade those to join his cause. Taking risky actions after assessing them. Could they have been led by Light? There was nothing to substantiate the idea, but surely with Light's recent disappearance it could be. Was he getting involved in this and for what purpose? Not even his brother Schniezel's plotting threw him into such chaotic confusion. He needed to learn to ground himself better and refuse to spin his own head in circles.

Reinvigorated would be a sore understatement. Striding back into his room he took only passing notice at C.C. who was dressed as Zero.

"So it seems you had someone else to save you this time. I almost did so, but it appeared as if they had it under control." Lelouch did not respond, disappearing into his own mind. There remained a silence for a time

"It seems you were right C.C." He stated "I must make a move now and I have just the piece."

* * *

"Aw man! I can't believe he got away!" Matsuda groaned.

"Yes, thank you Matsuda. I did not notice." L rocked on his feet and thought of Zero. He called in L to investigate the Kira case. He'd explained to him that he needed Kira's identity to make contact. The way he acted made it seem as though he wished to prevent Kira from killing any of his troops who were terrorists wanted by the Brittanian government. L thought of it a different way. After watching Zero, it became clear he had a flair for the dramatic. It seemed more likely that Zero wanted the attention of the media and Kira had siphoned off coverage during his debut. As time passed the constant and detached nature of the killings continued, the public had lost interest and so did Zero.

"So what are we going to do Ryuzaki? What if..." Aizawa hit Matsuda in the head.

"Matsuda! He's thinking!" L knew Aizawa didn't wish to jump to his defense. However being rich enough to buy out an entire cafe across the street from Tokyo Tower and engineer his own knightmares, he ended up paying Aizawa a tidy sum. The man had a family after all and the pay at Task Force 11 was never enough to pay a Japanese man's debts. He was their only hope to catch both Kira and Zero.

"Go back home for now. I'll call when I need you." After they'd all left L let out a sigh.

"What is your next move?" Watari asked

"If you would, I would like something to eat. I simply can't work on an empty stomach." Watari returned with a delectable looking dish covered in custard and crowned with a strawberry.

"It is cabinet pudding. I traded recipes with a butler by the name of Sebastien after I beat him in a cooking contest. It is one of my personal favourites."

"You need to make this more." L remarked with his mouth still full "I can feel my head clear already." Polishing off the plate he returned to a more serious tone.

"Well Watari, I do not wish to become one of the factions in the rebellion, but it is the wisest course of action."

"Is it?"

"Zero's interest in Kira was for his own benefit in this war. It is he who I wish to find more about, so I need to get closer to him. If I were to appear as the leader of a smaller rebel group, he will assimilate us getting us very close."

"There are many better pilots than you. Your intelligence will outdo them, but is it enough to take on all of Brittania?"

"You did gain your fortune through invention Watari."

"I will not be around to make you anymore pudding for a while if I do undertake this." L pretended to act undecided

"I suppose you should make me several before you leave then."


	10. Chapter 10

Code Light Chapter 10: Return of the King

* * *

"I'm glad we could come to terms Suzaku."

"I'll I agreed to do was introduce you to my boss. I'm not in charge of wether he'll take you on or not."

"Of course." Lelouch smiled a genuine smile. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. The head of the research division was some earl he'd never heard of before, although he was only several deaths away from emperor. So long as he limited his genius, Lelouch would be able to avoid the attention of Cornelia. It was an excellent move, if he got into the research division he would in place for sabotage and espionage.

"Lelouch, you'd better be careful. I know you're not doing this to help Brittania, so what are you up to?" Lelouch didn't turn from window of the car, watching the sleek buildings slip by through the tinted glass.

"Suzaku, do you know what I do in my spare time these days?" He remarked idly

"You have spare time? You seem so busy, everyone's always commenting on how you're away somewhere when they need you." Suzaku let out a light laugh. His smile fell as he saw Lelouch's impassive expression. "I don't really know, you play chess?" It was Lelouch who took a turn to laugh, but it seemed dark somehow.

"Suzaku, I have not played chess in weeks. Ever since I took Light to play at Babel Tower he made a remark that was just so off putting. I can't really muster the will to play a game anymore." Light had said something about how chess was nothing like real life. Lelouch had been only slightly taken aback, until his battle with Cornelia. She had not played by the rules, because life had no rules. He'd dismissed the thought and subsequently lost because of it, however that was not what irked him most. It was the fact that Light had been able to discern a fact of reality that he hiself had casually overlooked.

"Oh, you're trying to beat Light aren't you? He overtaking you in most of the classes, I guess this would help."

"You know Suzaku, I never thought there could be someone better than me." He also never thought of using that story as cover. Perhaps his own hubris needed to be kept in check, he would lose nothing by acting as if Light were his better.

"I should warn you that Lloyd is a bit...eccentric." Suzaku said, taking the keys out of the car. They walked along the concrete path up to the doors where a woman with indigo hair and blue eyes awaited. She smiled warmly

"Hello, you must be Lelouch. It's a pleasure to meet you." They shook hands and began walking.

"Lelouch, this is Cecile Croomy. Cecile, I figure you've read the background checks, so you must know him pretty well already."

"He's nationally ranked, however that fact is mitigated by his apparent apathy. He spends some time gambling on chess matches, illegally I might add." Cecile laughed as Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "No worries. We don't do much by the book here. I'll take you to Lloyd, he's working on improving the factspheres. It has become apparent that they are a rather vulnerable spot, though it seems only one has though to actually attack them."

"Well, I've got to go do some test runs. I'll see you around." Suzaku waved goodbye and then split down a corridor. Lelouch walked in silence, observing his surroundings. The walls were a shade of ecru, which he found rather dull and the passageways lacked any furniture. This Lloyd character must be a dull man solely focused on his work to lack any style whatsoever.

"Here we are." Cecile announced, sliding a card and punching in a code.

"Four digits?" Lelouch remarked "That's not what I would call secure." Especially when it's just the first four numbers of the Fibonacci sequence. Not that he'd let them know he'd seen the code specifically. Cecile almost remarked before a tall, almost lanky, man stooped over to examine him.

"My, my my! Look everyone, we have ourselves another recruit! That's two in one day, where are you all coming from hmm?" His speech was frighteningly vivid, like the excitement of a child. Yet behind those glasses were the blue eyes of someone who wished to explore and learn, not childish at all. Lelouch gave a tiny bow to be polite, he was an earl after all.

"Oh, no need to be so formal, just get to work! From what I hear, you seem like you'll be running simulations to see wether our inventions are applicable in combat, functionality and all that. You'll probably be working closely with the other new guy. He's using the pseudonym of Tom Lehrer, but his aptitude was so great we let him in anyway. I really only care for the results he gets us. So go on, andele my new myrmidon, get to work! " His new boss shooed him off towards a door, undistinguishable from all the others that led in. His feet mindlessly walked over to the door. Lelouch had been slightly taken aback by the earl's strange behavior. _Eccentric indeed._ he thought.

The room he entered contrasted to the rest of the lab he'd walked through. It was furnished with a wooden table, holding neat stacks of folders, with a comfortable black couch on either side. Filing cabinets adorned all walls except the one he entered through, with two doors each marking the walls into thirds. An elderly man in a black tuxedo with gray-white hair was sitting on one of the couches drawing sketches with a mechanical pencil. Seeing Lelouch he stood up formally and bowed.

"Good evening, you must be Lelouch Lamperouge. I go by the name of Tom Lehrer. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His speech was more formal than any noble in Lelouch's own family. He carried himself with pride without a speck of hubris. Lelouch did his best to seem amicable without his usual arrogance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lehrer." he gestured to the table "What exactly am I to be working on? Lloyd did not fully instruct me on my exact duties." He'd never really fit into the cogs of the machine, square pegs, round holes, he supposed.

"I am currently in the process of creating a Factsphere Disturber. Ruining the factsphere is a highly effective maneuver as there is no line of sight out of the cockpit and I believe it can be capitalized upon into a weapon. The problem I have currently run into is the fact that it would also hit the unit using the weapon." Lelouch looked down at one of the sheets of paper picking it up. Projectile thermite launcher? Ludicrous! It would rip through the factsphere, not merely disable it!

"That is not the correct sheet." The man handed him another paper. "The project you are holding has already been completed and is currently undergoing testing now." Lelouch raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"It was implemented? How long did it take you to figure out a launching mechanism?" Raising a wrist he looked at his watch.

"Two hours and 37 minutes. It has been three hours and 23 minutes since development of the weapon began, which finished two hours 17 minutes later. After three and a half minutes of attachment to the standard Sutherland, they began testing. They are still testing now and they have been doing so for one hour, six minutes." Though still in his appearance as proper, Lelouch could practically feel the old man's gratification from the development of an invention. What had he gotten himself into, working with researchers like this?

* * *

"Cecile?" Lloyd called out, hunching over a display of numbers.

"Yes, sir?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Why did I do what, sir?" she replied innocently. Lloyd laughed and stood up.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about! You just ushered in a genius and an ambitious lad into my lab, without consulting me. " he talked without looking at her, marveling instead at the numbers. The thermite projectile had targeting issues, but within 20 seconds reduced all forms of visibility to zero! In 13 of the 16 trials so far, it had eaten through so much of the factsphere, the emergency cockpit had to be released before it would have eaten the pilots! It was wondrously simple, sometimes you got so caught up in the electrical, state of the art gadgets, you would forget all about the cruder ways to dispatch the enemy. Sure it wasn't the new discoveries he longed for in his heart, but the spirit of innovation dwelled within the man.

"Sir?" Oh. He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts he'd forgotten what he was doing.

"Eh, could you repeat that, I wasn't paying attention."

"I said I did it to get things moving. Suzaku says Lelouch is rather ambitious and I think it would be good to have some friendly competition. As for our Mr. Lehrer, he came requesting our facilities and he seemed to know what he was doing. You've just been so busy with accomplishing the goals I felt as if I should reintroduce some of the other aspects of invention."  
"Aspects of invention, my dear Cecile you should have been a poet! Ah, well. Back to work, I feel Mr. Lehrer will be flooding us with ideas. I just hope that student pulls his weight as well."

* * *

Lelouch was run ragged by the time he returned with Suzaku to Ashford Academy. Until Suzaku had offered to return him, he'd been running simulations on the effects of various designs that Old Gadget had been designing. The brunt of it was coding, but not to be outdone he added many of his own tweaks to improve combat effectiveness. Despite the fact that the sun already set, his true work had yet to begin. He had calls to make to various resistance groups, ordering them about so he would not be seen as idle. He wandered off towards the edge of campus, making his way to Tokyo Tower. There he had set up an untraceable relay to all of his resistance groups.

Lelouch did not skulk, he moved stealthily. He walked among the shadows and around trees that gave him the fewest lines-of-site to nearby windows. His plan was ruined by two students walking about at night. Squinting through the darkness, he struggled to make out a light shade of hair covered by a bandana on a stout figure. Matthias Pendal. It was likely he was the instigator of the new ill will around the school towards Lelouch. Although he wasn't incredibly popular he had unbounded racism towards the Japanese, which immediately transferred to those who associated with them. The other was his lackey, Drew Campbell, wry, spry fellow. Drew wasn't as racist, but he did have an unbridled sense of entitlement.

"Hey, whose that over there?" It was Drew who spoke. Lelouch could either attempt to sneak away, or confront them with his geass. He'd hate to waste a geass on such pawns, but he couldn't smooth-talk his way around Matthias. He vied to slink away, but was unsuccessful.

"Look at that, it's the 'leven lover Lelouch! What are you up to out here at night?" Matthias strode over confidently, with Drew in tow.

"I could say the same to you." He kept his voice as steady and forceful as he could manage, without being provocative.

"We asked you. You should answer." Drew's voice had the same persuasiveness as a knife.

"I was just going out for a stroll to clear my head in the night air. That is all." Matthias loomed over him in the shadowy darkness.

"You weren't goin' out to help any Elevens were you? You think those filth deserve your kindness?" he spat at Lelouch, though thankfully few people ever train the accuracy of their spitting, so the saliva merely dribbled down Lelouch's sleeve. "As smart as you are, I never would have thought of you as someone who sympathized with those freaks." Drew gave him a tiny shove, but thanks to the boys smaller body he was able to regain balance quickly. This was problematic. The situation could turn physical quickly now. Lelouch briefly wished he'd attended more PE classes so he wouldn't seem like such an easy target. After all, Suzaku was friends with other students and Light was friends with all but the most bigoted.

"I don't wish for this to escalate any further." he said sternly. In a flash, Drew had hooked his legs and knocked Lelouch onto his back. Matthias gave him a swift kick to the ribs and he clenched his teeth. He would not give them the pleasure of his pain. He rolled over to try make eye contact, however a clod of dirt had gotten in his left eye. He struggled to open it, but biology refused to open his eyelids and let the earth ruin his eye. His hands were pinned under the feet of his attackers, crushing his wrists. From testing he knew geass didn't work with his right eye, but he tried anyway.  
"I order you to stop this at once!" he received a cuff to the head for his efforts.

"Shut it, punk." contempt dripped from Matthias' voice. Then in the shadows Lelouch thought he saw something move. C.C.? She may have picked up some form of martial arts over her many years of living, but was she good enough to fend off these two despicable creatures.

Emerging from the darkness it was most definitely not C.C.. With brown hair and red eyes that pierced the darkness, carrying a messanger bag he walked over to Lelouch's attackers calmly.

"Hey look, it's an eleven! You Gonna' help your friend out?" Matthias goaded. Lelouch quickly brushed the dirt out of his eye in preperation to use geass. Light walked up to both of them and put a hand on each of their hearts and in a powerful voice that bellowed quietly,

"Repent."

The two fell to the ground crying and Lelouch felt some presence laughing at his helplessness. Light stalked off, enveloped by the darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Code Light Chapter 11: A Date

* * *

"Aww man Light, did you see his face? That was fantastic! He was so shocked!" Ryuk guffawed loudly in his raspy voice. Light as usual refused to be amused. He merely stated,

"I did what I had to do, Ryuk. After all, our good friend Robert vi Brittania did pay me well to protect Lelouch." He allowed himself to smile. Brittanian fool thought he could hide his name behind a silly alias. How many brothers could the emperor possible be close to? Another observation he had made was that he also used a repeating letter alias, as did C.C.. Perhaps there were 26 of the Immortals about. However, if that were true then there was a severely disproportionate number of Immortals to geass holders. It also implied that either most did not grant geass or could be incapacitated in some way. He would have to do additional research. However, he did now have plenty of time. Robert, or V.V. as he wished to be called had provided him with an international list of all convicted criminals, that had managed to avoid capital punishment. Though his face had been stoic at the time, Light's heart had jumped within his chest and he gleefully spent a sleepless night writing all their names in the Death Note. He would be set for the next year exactly. V.V. pledged a list of 8,760 criminals to be sent to him thirteen days before each new year. Apparently every noble had at least some flair for the dramatic.

"So whatcha gonna do next?" Ryuk floated with his wings out, despite the fact that he didn't really need them to fly. Light disapproved because it blocked his vision. In the dark as they strolled to Light's new on campus quarters that had been provided for boom. V.V. had insisted on Light being closer to Lelouch at all times. His new room, or more accurately, his new building, had been the old greenhouse for the horticulture club. The Immortal had nested that with a job so close to death, he should spend more time around living things. As Light stepped inside, he noticed that the place seemed rather clean and tidy for a place that hadn't been used in several years. VPro probably had hidden some bugs in the place when he'd ordered it to be renovated.

"You hired me for my caution and I refuse to work while you spy on me. I am grateful, but I still don't trust you." He checked the usual spots, behind mirrors, near phones and doors and to be safe, he meticulously ran a strong magnet along every inch of the place.

"Sheesh Light, you sure are calm for someone who thinks their house has been bugged." Light crushed a small rose in his hand, which fell apart with a metallic tinkle.

"Nature adores the fibonacci sequence. Had it been a real rose, it would have had 13 counterclockwise spirals." Light looked to Ryuk. "As for how calm I am, it is because I am certain the Immortal will not defeat the God of Justice with such cheap tricks. Get to work finding any more bugs Ryuk, there will be an apple waiting for each one you find." Ryuk's face lit up like a child on Christmas morning and his grey skin disappeared into the wall with a sense of urgency unbecoming of a god of death.

_Now on to other business. _Light thought. It was late, but he hardly needed to be awake for school anyhow. Time to reassess his engagement with Lelouch. The last time they spoke, Light had revealed that he knew Lelouch's identity as prince. However by saving him from those ruffians earlier that night, he had undoubtedly proven that he bore Lelouch no ill will. So keeping lelouch from seeing him as a threat had been accomplished. Now that he had been assured that he and Zero were the same, it seemed as if joining the rebellion would be an excellent way to get closer. But how was he going to do that?

It did not take long for him to recall the events of his first day at Ashford Academy. Lelouch and Kallen had been discussing Shinjuku and Zero had no need to speak to a civilian. Kallen was undoubtedly a pilot for Zero and did not know he was Lelouch. Perhaps he could get her to invite him into the resistance group. He had a plan now and everything would go accordingly.

When he arrived to class the next day he made sure to arrive before Lelouch. Nothing had changed, things were as they always were. It seemed that he had either received late-night hospitality or his grim demeanor was one of pain instead of hatred today, because despite the darkness and lack of blood that at least a rib had been broken. They avoided eye contact as they always did, but Light noticed that his hand trembled as it carried the laptop. So Light had merely overestimated the severity of Lelouch's injuries.

Reexpanding his view of attention and noted that the two who had accosted Lelouch were still missing. Apparently they had committed grave crimes, for the severity of the penance was proportional to the foul deeds done. He had not had the time to fully explore his powers, but V.V. Had remarked that Light was the only one recorded to have immediately manifested dual-eye usage of his geass. Wabisuke, he called his power, to force the evil in the world to repent.

Kallen was present, fortunately enough and Light approached her after class.

"Good morning Kallen, how are you?"

"I'm fine." She spoke with an air of suspicion. Light had not been in the game of more intimate social contact for quite some time, he needed to warm up a little.

"I see you're not going on the field trip with most of the class."

"No, I didn't think it would be all that interesting to visit the convention center."

"So does that mean you're free later tonight?" Kallen's eyes visibly widened as Light felt his manipulative side smile.

"Well I... I don't have anything planned... " she stammered out. Light took the opening

"You want to grab something to eat for dinner together? I know this place that makes great donburi, I think you'd like it."

"Yeah that sounds...great." Light still had her slightly fazed. Had no one ever asked the girl out before? Or was his change in apparent personality just shocking? If it was the latter he would need to be more careful in the future. Time to set the date in stone anyhow.

"Good! I'll pick you up at 6:00 then." Light walked off, smiling and looking chipper, leaving Kallen wide-eyed and red-faced.

"Light you are one smooth guy, you know that?" Alone in the hallway he let his expression return to its neutral state.

"Yes Ryuk, I do know that."

* * *

L could feel the gazes watching him intently. It bothered him.

"If you would, go stare at someone else. I find it rather disconcerting." Matsuda actually looked away for a bit before turning back to him. L sighed.

"Never mind. I've finished." He went from his crouch to his hunch. After searching he'd found that a noble had left a rather expensive vehicle laying around an abandoned parking garage after an encounter with Lelouch. This was his first clue. His second was that Watari had placed a bug on Lelouch when they had met. For a leader of a resistance group, he wasn't paranoid enough. There was also the manner of the black uniforms that had been ordered. Even accounting for how much flair he had, Lelouch seemed to break more codes of stealth than was necessary. He decided to lay the plan out to his cohorts.

"It seems as though Zero is going to be making a move soon."

"And what are we going to do about it? We aren't completely opposed to him."

"We should be!" Matsuda interjected "He acts as though he's above the law! If only he worked to change Brittania instead of just opposing it, he could make a difference!" L sighed as Minase and Matsuda argued again. Always debating over silly things like wether it was better to fight against an unjust nation or change it from within. He simply wanted to know why he did it and if he was Kira. Nothing so fancy as the morality on rebuilding an unjust nation.

"If you would pay attention, here is what we are going to do."

* * *

Lelouch and the rest of the council assembled. Apparently, Shirley, Nina and Milly were planning on going to the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Hotel the next day. Shirley seemed rather determined to get him to tag along as well.

"Come on Lulu! You never hang out with us anymore, it'll be fun!" she made puppy dog eyes at him. However he had a presentation to make to his troops.

"I'm a little busy tomorrow. Maybe some other time?" he suggested as gently as he could. But if he knew Shirley, he knew what would happen next. She hit him on the head with a stack of papers

"Come on Lelouch! You're always busy, we're you're friends. You need to stop whatever it is that your doing now and hang out with us more." He knew it was coming. Every time he said he was busy Shirley would go through the same tirade, although this time there was a curveball. "If you won't come with us then we'll take Light with us!"

"What?" he, Light and Kallen spoke in unison. Wait Kallen? That didn't seem right, why was she so shocked at this development? He would have to press her on it later, because right now Light seemed to have dropped his guard.

"Excuse me?" he stated again. His eyes were wide but there was something strange about it. Light always had the calmest of demeanors, what had brought about this new change?

"You're free on Sunday aren't you Light?"

"I suppose I am..." Lelouch could definitley tell that Light was acting now. It was an excellent performance, but it was too drastic a change from the Light he had seen earlier.

"It's settled then! You'll accompany us on our trip!" Milly seemed almost egregiously happy with the decision. In the same moment Lelouch briefly caught a glance between Kallen and Light. This absolutely did not bode well.

* * *

"This is one fancy place, Light. You sure know how to pick 'em." Ryuk commented as they turned off the road and into the Stadtfeld estate. Light didn't find it fancy, just rather large.

"You know Ryuk, if you weren't incapable of being killed, I would have strangled you by now." Light jested with a smile. He tossed an apple into the back seat. "Don't make a mess." He must truly be in a good mood to be giving Ryuk a free apple after such a comment. Everything was going exactly as planned, with the added benefit of his own geass. He stepped out of the car, walking up the concrete path. He knocked on the door and a japanese maid opened it.

"Good evening, I am Light Yagami. I am here to take Kallen to dinner, is she ready?" he smiled politely. The woman seemed slightly surprised.

"Ms. Kallen, Light is here." Light waited as Kallen descended the steps, dressed in casual clothing. That was good, the way she acted earlier, it seemed as if she would do something stupid.

"Well then, shall we go?" Kallen nodded. As they walked out to the car, Light opened the door for her.

"Such a gentleman. How come you never open the door for me Light?" Ryuk sure was talkative today, though Light had become so adept at ignoring him it hardly mattered. As soon as the car turned onto the road, he began talking.

"I wouldn't suppose I could entice you to come with me to the Kawaguchi Center?"

"No, I have... plans that day."

"Ah. I see." So Lelouch was likely planning something the next day. More specifically, he planned to enact something for he was always plotting. There were several moments of silence between them. "You know, you didn't have to say yes if you really didn't want to go." But Light knew how things worked. She didn't really have a choice.

"Oh no it's not that. I just didn't really expect it, that's all." They made small talk, but Light was waiting for dinner to make a move. That's when she would be most likely to slip up. The pair walked inside and took a seat by the window. Light ordered oyakodon and Kallen chose a dish of gyudon.

"Enjoying your meal?" Light tittered. Kallen was ravenously devouring her beef and rice.

"This is really great, I love Japanese food." She spoke with her mouth full of food, her expression much less somber than usual.

"Yeah, I miss the old shokudo." Light gazed out the window "I'm glad Zero is working to free Japan. We could use someone like him." He muttered to himself loud enough for Kallen to hear. She took note.

"So you agree with Zero too?" Here was the delicate part. He couldn't be too vehement with his agreement with Lelouch but he also needed to seem dedicated to the cause. He didn't expect to be invited on the first date, but the idea needed to be planted.

"Of course! He works to free the Japanese from tyranny, show could any oppose such a noble cause?" Of course ridding the world of filth was a calling far above the capabilities of any mere mortal. Try as he may, Violet-eyes would never macapabilities powers.

"Do you really feel that way?"

"Of course," Light and Kallen looked at each other, not intently, not with longing, just interpreting the other.

"Eh, here's your bill..." A boy around Light's age with disheveled hair and torn up shoes slipped the tab in the center, attempting to be discreet. He was not the stealthiest of waiters, but at least he tried to be polite.

"I guess we should go now." Light paid the bill in cash leaving a generous tip for the waiter. He took a detour around the Shinjuku Gyoen, once a beautiful attraction now littered with plastic waste and graffiti. Bottles floated about the pond, nearly quacking. Such disgusting people to destroy a place merely to spite the Japanese.

"I'll miss that place,". Light falsely reminisced "I used to spend quite a lot of my time studying there."

"That's what we're fighting for." Kallen once again had returned to her serious mood. Perhaps Light could move ahead of schedule with the right hand.

"I don't know about you, but I certainly haven't found a way to fight yet. I wish I could do something..." He didn't press any further and began the drive back to the Stadtfeld estate. If probably wouldn't introduce him by name to Zero since she had no idea that he was Lelouch. Light walked her to the door and have her a quick hug.

"That was nice." She said halfheartedly, her mind seemed to be thinking.

"Again sometime then?"

"Yeah, I would like that." There were good chances that she was going to recommend him to Zero as she closed the door behind her. As he got back in the car he saw Ryuk curled up in the back seat, a grotesque parody of some domestic animal. _My own pet shinigami. Only a god would be able to manage that._


	12. Chapter 12

Code Light Chapter 12: Tower Defense

* * *

Lelouch-as-Zero sat in the center of the couch inside of his new headquarters. He'd readied the transport as well as uniforms, he would soon announce the Black Knight's grand debut on the world stage. It was time they were seen as an organized movement instead of a shambolic group of terrorists. The time approached and he watched Ohgi, Kallen, Tamaki and the others arrive. Their shocked faces were amusing, they still hadn't realized how much power he held. He pressed a button to open the doors and the members of the resistance walked in.

"Woah! Get a look at this place will ya? Zero's the man!" Tamaki was the most expressive of the group, his restraint equaled that of an impulsive child.

"Where did you get this?" Ohgi asked in awe

"A nobleman saw fit to give it to me. No strings attached." Ohgi and Kallen looked at him, but Tamaki had moved on to the TV.

"Look at this! We'll be like kings even before be free Japan!" He turned on the tv, where a news channel was playing.

"...you can clearly see Chairman James, as well as several students." Lelouch stared at the screen and saw Milly, Nina, Shirley and Light. A hoteljacking, it would be perfect to announce the resistance group to the world, if he could pull it off. No he would be able to pull it off. He was still deciding what to do when he received a call from Rivalz. He ignored the call, he had things to do. In any case Light was there and he could use whatever power he had mysteriously gained. That was another thing he needed to accomplish soon, as soon as Light returned he would need to investigate the power he had gained. Lelouch pondered how he would uncover the abilities without provoking Light until there was a knock on the door. A knock on the door? The whole trailer became frantic. Looking on the monitors, he saw a woman with beads entwined into her brown hair. Behind her were the strange knighmare frames.

"Calm yourselves!" Lelouch commanded. He strode to the door wondering why they had come to him.

* * *

"Oh Light, looks like things are getting pretty screwed up, eh?" Ryuk chuckled looking around the crowd. Light continued to evaluate the situation. The hotel-jackers were from the Japanese Liberation Front, so Light had kept down to keep from a confrontation. Though he'd not been able to hear any of their demands, he assumed they would try to negotiate for something with the hostages. As for the direct room, there were two guards on either side of the room armed with assault rifles. A physical confrontation would be futile and usage of the Death Note was prohibited by the many eyes he was surrounded by, as well as the fact he did not know the names of the men. If there had only been one guard he could have used his geass, but with four others would see it as too much of a coincidence.

"So whatcha gonna do Light?" The shinigami asked. He didn't seem as excited as several moments ago. "Come on this is a great moment! Have the guards all shoot each other, or jump off the building." Apparently the foolish creature didn't understand patience and when he crossed Light's vision, he was given a cold stare. Ryuk was getting fidgety and it was not a good sign. He'd never been like this before, how long had it been since he'd last had an apple? _It was just this morning._ Light recalled. So it wasn't the symptoms of withdrawal, he would need to get out of this situation before he searched for further answers. He couldn't use his Wabisuke on all four guards, but he could use it on a Brittanian as a distraction. It would only manifest strongly in those entitled to punishment, so no undeserving would be harmed.

Though one cannot judge by appearance, informed guesses could be made. Since all Brittanians lived with their dominance over the Japanese there was not a sinless one among them, but Light saw a man still wearing a face of contempt despite his predicament. Slowly and nearly imperceptibly he made his way over to the man, placing his hand on his back.

"Repent"

* * *

Minase was the one who knocked on the door. She was the piece he was most willing to give up, Matsuda was a better pilot and Aizawa was more useful... in nearly every regard. Actually every regard, except for being affable which he had no need of. Zero opened the door, unarmed. He supposed it was a reasonable move to make, he could have destroyed the trailer easily, although that in itself was another mistake Zero had made. Minase presented herself as planned.

"I am Mutsuki Minase, it is a pleasure to meet you Zero. I have come to offer you my services and of my fellows into the Black Knights." L wished he could have examined Zero's face, but the slight tensing of the body would have to do. It was a gamble, but for one obsessed with justice and chess, who always played as black, it wasn't to far fetched as to what they would call themselves. As for the results, Lelouch if he was Zero, would consider them a considerable asset. Minase also had worded the phrase so that it would not seem as if L himself was the leader. He needed to be less obvious then that, which is why he had one the handy face-altering masks.

"Why should I trust those who merely appear on my doorstep?" He spread his arms apart in a flamboyant gesture. He was using this as a show to impress his minions, he had already made his decision. L had expected him to respond thusly.

"We have saved your life at Saitama, as well saving you grief in times you consequently did not notice. As well as if we truly wished to harm you, you would have been dead already." Minase spoke the words with little hesitation. However, little hesitation is vastly different from no hesitation and Zero was a perceptive man.

"One who speaks the truth does not speak so unnaturally as you do." He declared. A small slit in his helmet opened to a purple eye as he spoke "You shall tell me the truth from now on." The visor closed and Minase looked dazed. L became worried. He muttered to Matsuda

"Train your weapon on Minase. Something suspicious is going on." Matsuda started to stammer incomprehensibly.

"Tell me, are you the leader of the knightmares behind you?" The man in black commanded. Minase's answer worried L.

"No."

"Then tell me, who is your leader?"

One solitary bullet flew, bursting through Minase's chest and landing at Zero's feet. Small flecks of blood spattered the front of his sleek black shoes as she crumpled down. L was sure Matsuda was yelling at him through the muted com link, while Aizawa let his hatred grow. Zero was taken aback, presumably staring at the corpse through his mask. Still he held up his hand as the followers who were not gaping in horror readied their weapons.

"Why would you kill one of your own people?" There was a passionate fury in his voice. How ironic, considering how he also would have sacrificed a unit to save his own skin if L hadn't intervened. "You say you wish to join us, but are you really..." L would not let him continue to talk like this.

"Does this mean you would be fine with your own identity being revealed, so long as it saved a soldiers life?" L asked in his deadpan voice. "You would not. Zero, I too wish for my identity to be known by as few people as possible." Zero considered this and then the corpse.

"It is clear that you do not wish to kill me, however after this incident you could never be fully accepted into the Black Knights."

"You will still accept us." There was a silence stained with contempt for a moment.

"Yes we shall." There were shocked looks among most of the resistance members, save the two that stood nearest to Zero. One was Kallen Stadtfeld, or Kozuki who was half-Japanese. She was Zero's ace pilot. The other was the old leader of the resistance group, Kaname Ohgi. L would have to watch these two carefully. Zero turned to go inside and spoke again. "Come inside, there is business we need to mobilize for immediately."

* * *

Lelouch couldn't believe what was happening. On one hand the mysterious owners of the knightmare frames delivered themselves to him and subsequently proven themselves to be ruthless. Killing one of their own like that? There was no need to sacrifice a valuable piece when you were not in immediate danger. Lelouch thought about it, he was willing to kill to keep his identity a secret. That must mean that he was well known, if his identity would be easily recognizable. Lelouch dismissed the initial notion that it was Light however, the speaker seemed rather bored with the situation even after having the Mitsuki girl killed. Light, although detached, spoke in a matter-of-fact voice as well as the fact he was currently in the Kawaguchi Hotel. There were too many things for him to do and too few people he could trust with the situation. He waited on the couch with the floor plans for the building spread out waiting for the newest 'recruits' to join in.

His jaw dropped in his mask once again as they entered wearing the standard uniform for the Black Knights he had yet to give out. How had they managed it, not only gathering the clothes from the Black Knights, but also the name he'd never spoken aloud before! If they truly wished to submit to him, it would be a joyous day indeed but things never went that well. They were plotting something.

"If I may not have your real name, would you at least inform me of what I may call you?" The one in back spoke up, he stood shoulders slightly down. He seemed to be one who was constantly hunched over and now only stood for a small formality.

"You may call me Ryuzaki." He still spoke in the same uninterested manner. He hopped onto the couch in a strange crouching position. Lelouch noticed he wore no shoes, why was that familiar?

"Do you have a plan or do you plan to stare at my feet all day?" Lelouch was beginning to lose his patience. There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in his voice, it was as if he seriously believed that Lelouch would continue staring at his feet if he didn't prod him along.

"Here's the plan, first we capture a news-van..."

* * *

The man made soft choking sounds at first, giving Light time to shuffle back towards the students from Ashford Academy. One of the guards shouted  
"Shut up you Brittanian pig!" The man began to wail

"I'm sorry, I didn't want it to end up like this!" Everything after that was more or less incoherent and the man stood up. The guards were unsure of what they were to do and stayed their weapons for several moments more, but as the man made his way towards the exit they fired. The ensuing chaos had everyone screaming and ducking their heads as the guards tried to silence the crowd. After scooting to the edge of the pack, he whispered

"Repent." The man seemed rather horrified. Terrorists were terrorists, even when for a righteous cause, Light supposed. The guard fumbled with the trigger, giving Light time to dive back into the huddled crowd before he shot himself. For some strange reason his death actually caused the room to still instead of more frantic behavior as Light had hoped for. A young bespectacled woman with pink hair stood up amongst the chaos.

"I am Euphimia li Brittania and you must stop this at once!" She removed her glasses and let down her hair and the people in the room gasped. Oh no way. There was no way people didn't recognize her before, she was wearing a pair of glasses! Light stood stunned at the shock of the people as Euphimia continued on her little tirade. "I demand you stop this bloodshed and take me to your leader!" The three remaining guards looked at each other and then to her and then back at each other. They reached a wordless consensus that a princess was worth more than the whole roomful of hostages and two of the guards escorted her out.

"Oohoohoo." Ryuk looked pleased. "That was a nice show. But there's still one left." Light debated wether to wait or to act. He picked a small handgun off of the corpse and shot the remaining guard in each arm, who fainted quickly thereafter.

"Wait here." He ordered the hostages. Milly and Shirley were gaping at him, but he could reconcile that later. Survival was a priority.

* * *

"You are..."

"Zero, there's a problem out here." Lelouch nearly hit himself. He was in the middle of a dramatic speech to Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe. Why did he leave the blasted thing on?

"There are two dead guards and a dead hostage in the room. They're all quaking in their fancy boots." Oh yes, that's why. In case of complications such as this.

"It seems as if there are several intruders, not belonging to either of us." he stated temporarily turning his attention back to the JLF before uttering more commands "Rescue the hostages as planned first. Then sweep the area, I want those responsible captured, alive if possible, but don't risk your own life." There needed to a change of pace, four gunshots rang out in the hallway and there was a familiar scream. He still had about half of the gunmen looking his way

"Die!" he commanded.

* * *

L was an incredibly poor shot with guns, his preference being close quarter combat. Still it seemed Light had no intention of shooting him as he rounded the corner. Light Yagami, son of Soichiro Yagami. Intelligent and attended the same school as Lelouch, despite being Japanese.

Moments prior, two of the JLF guards rounded the corner with Euphimia li Brittania. She must have been disguised as a tourist and recent events forced here to reveal herself. It was likely that it was due to the gunshots earlier, she was an incredibly idealistic youth and detested unnecessary violence. Light had stealthily rounded the corner and loosed four bullets, two at each guard. He was a good marksman, but he was no top gun. Although one bullet did hit each target, the guard on L's left only took a hit to the lung. He was out, but definitely still alive, even though Light had shot to kill. One stray bullet embedded itself in a wall while the last managed to hit Euphimia's hand, who cried out in pain.

This said a lot about Light, despite being a hostage he still took action. He had guts, as well as the skill to go with it. However skill in combat was not his primary focus. That meant Light either dabbled in many things or was extremely quick on his feet. Then there was the fact he shot to kill. There was no mercy in his eyes, they were the eyes that felt as if they had every right to take another's life if it was suitable. L chuckled on the inside, not too long ago he chastised Lelouch for not being ready to kill.

Still he needed to be ready to take action should Light prove to be hostile. His mask was that of a Japanese man, facial structure similar to his own, but thinner. He made an attempt to read Light's motives.

"Kusakabe is in that room. I shall tend to the princess."

"I appreciate it. Good day." Light reloaded as he headed for the door. As he stepped by L they noticed a glint in the other's eyes. There was an equivalence about it. L who never found one intelligent to match his own wits, found that this ruthless character might be a worthy contender. L smiled a true smile for one of the few times in his life and went to care for Euphimia.

* * *

Lelouch stood still towards one end of the room, with all but four dead, including the lieutenant-colonel. Light unleashed a bullet for each, doubling back to his second and third targets which he had hit in non-vital areas. Blood and brains spattered the walls.

"You!" Lelouch cried. Light grinned. He aimed the gun at Lelouch and pulled the trigger, laughing. He then tossed the gun onto the nearby chair. Ryuk also laughing maniacally, flipping in circles midair.

"You flinched Lamperouge. I thought the great Zero could at least count to six." He knew he should remain in better control of himself, but sometimes he saw what Ryuk found so amusing with the world.

"I figured you would have found out." Light could tell he spoke with gritted teeth.

"Of course I found out. It is not too difficult a puzzle to piece together." Light fell back into his normal, emotionless yet condescending voice.

"And your Geass?" Brave enough to ask? Well, Light had made it clear he wouldn't kill him it was still an audacious question for one in his position.

"I found out your geass, the power of absolute obedience, without any hints at all. Then again you did use your geass on me." Light paused and let Lelouch recall the mess that had been made of his attackers.

"I'll decline." he began to walk towards the exit "That scream belonged to Euphimia. Is she still alive?" There was a softness in his voice. He needed to remind himself never to get as attached to people as Lelouch did.

"You care for your half-sister so much? Do such courtesies extend to Cornelia?" Light smiled as Lelouch stalked off. Standing with only Ryuk in the dark blood-spattered room he reflected.

"Ryuk, I really need to do more training. I am not nearly as good a shot as I imagined."

* * *

Author's Note

BAHH! I AM IMPATIENT! Read these three chapters! Just remember that means I'm not _technically_ behind until I forget to post a chapter on the 26th.


	13. Chapter 13

Code Light Chapter 13:Discussion

* * *

"So what happened out there?" Kallen asked. Zero had retreated to the lower levels of the decks, Kallen had followed him.

"There were certain complications when a young Japanese man shot members of the JLF." From Kallen's perspective he didn't know Light. However his conversation was not allowed to continue unfettered.

"Yes, but he's slightly more than _just _a young man." Ryuzaki spoke in a faraway tone as he shambled through the doorway. "In fact I believe he should be invited to join the Black Knights."

"Do we really know enough about him? All we know is that he shot the guards there. Can we really trust him?" Kallen seemed to disagree with Ryuzaki, which was good. Though he wished to keep an eye on Light, with his geass it could be too much of a risk.

"Oh, I believe you trust him all right." Ryuzaki meandered over to a seat and crouched down, slightly swaying with the motion of the boat. Lelouch snapped the two together. That was why Kallen and Light had been exchanging glances! He'd probably been trying to get closer to Kallen so she would invite him into the Black Knights! However, how did Ryuzaki know of this?

"What do are you talking about?"

"You were planning on inducting him anyway. You may have only wanted him to join for personal reasons, but it seems he has some actual talent." Kallen's eyes widened with realization. It took her long enough to put it together. Lelouch gave her a moment to compose herself

"Is this true Kallen?"

"Yes sir. He is intelligent and believes in our cause. I believe Light would be a great asset." Kallen spoke with such formality. She really wanted wished for Light to join, had he really gotten that close to her so quickly? He had, that manipulative bastard. It would be a gamble to take him on, Light's geass could prove problematic.

But Lelouch was Zero.

He would not be outdone by Light's righteousness. His way of healing the world was unsustainable, it would never last past his death. Lelouch would create a peaceful world that would last for the entire future, a safe haven for humanity to protect them from themselves. The Emperor must be ended to save the world from his bloodlust and Lelouch was the one who would do it. Light would be a tool, albeit a dangerous one.

"Then he will be welcome within our ranks. Even now our numbers grow, encompassing all those who believe in justice! Kallen, find Light and tell him he is welcome to join us should he wish it." Kallen looked happy with the information and went off to inform Light personally. He knew she meant nothing to Light, but hoped maybe he would become the mask and form an attachment to her. No, he wouldn't wish that upon Kallen, no matter how useful the results. He'd best stick to machinations with more tangible results. He looked to Ryuzaki, who seemed to be waiting for him to speak.

"You know quite a good deal." he began. "It is clear you are plotting your own schemes..."

"Isn't everyone?" Lelouch paused.

"Is that really how you see the world? Nothing more than a web of lies and deception?"

"It's the only part I'm interested in." Ryuzaki remarked with indifference.

"Then I must ask of you to keep an eye on Light. You are still a member of the Black Knights, no matter the circumstances under which you joined." Ryuzaki nodded and continued to sit. No further conversation would expedite his mission, so Lelouch went to oversee to the release of the Brittanians.

* * *

"So Light, how does it feel to kill with your own hands?" Ryuk floated about idly.

"I have been killing with my own all along. These are the hands to purge evil from the world." Light sat down in the small cabin. He'd been separated from the rest of the hostages, most likely due to his un-hostage-like behavior. Perhaps Kallen would pull through and be able to get Zero to let him in. It was unlikely that Lelouch would allow it, as he seemed to have picked up on his and Kallen's date and dismiss it as either manipulation or infatuation.

"Light," Kallen's voice came from the other side of the door. So she had been able to convince Lelouch.

"Come on in." he spoke nonchalantly. Then again Light was perpetually unperturbed. Kallen walked over and sat on the bunk with him, as Ryuk pressed to the side to keep out of her way. Strange, considering she would walk right through him.

"You don't seem all to surprised to see me." She seemed slightly annoyed, as if he'd ignored some fantastic revelation.

"It's not like it was all to unexpected." Light smiled at her "I did a little digging, Kozuki. I wondered why you would support Zero so much. Sure there may be good Brittanians out there, but your passion for human rights extended beyond that."

"I'm sorry, I forgot you were a genius." Kallen snidely stated, though in jest. Light grinned. There was a momentary tense pause.

"Necessity."

"Was it really?"

"Even though they weren't Japanese, I wouldn't leave them to die."

"I never implied anything of the sort."

"Forget I said anything." Sighing he stood up. Perhaps a change of topics would be beneficial. "Why don't you show me around. Since I'm a Black Knight now I could use an orientation."

* * *

Lelouch sat in class, the substitute from the other day was back. It seemed Mr. Cartwright had taken indefinite leave, which was quite beneficial. The substitute seemed nearly as eccentric as Lloyd, there were opportunities abound for him to skip. Light also seemed to be plotting something. Again. He hoped C.C. was doing her job at Light's new residence. It was strange the way that as soon as he returned, he'd also acquired a geass as well as his new lodgings. There would probably be something at the old greenhouse that would shed some light on Light.

"Today we will be starting a project dealing with the histories of this place of Japan." There were several gasps from the Brittanian students "I'll be pairing the two boy geniuses together, Suzaku and Kallen, Rivalz and..." The teacher droned on. Lelouch stopped listening after he realized that he would be working with Light.

"I can't say I'm all too thrilled with this." Light remarked.

"We could discuss other things of greater import."

"I suppose. Still I thought I saw a glimmer in his eyes when he paired us together."

"He is mad." Lelouch sighed and packed up his things. "Let us discuss this all elsewhere." The two walked side by side out of the room, their new teacher giving them a friendly wave goodbye.

They walked back towards Light's quarters. Hopefully C.C. found some incriminating evidence and escaped, it would be a nice change of pace to finally get an upper hand on Light. As they entered the building, Light looked around suspiciously but said nothing. He gestured for Lelouch to sit down in one of the chairs.

"I'll bring us something to eat." He returned munching on a plate of donuts. "How can you tell if an Immortal has been in your kitchen?" Lelouch wasn't even shocked at this point. Light waited, as if for a response before answering "The pizza from the fridge is missing."

"Damn it C.C.. Was it really something so simple?" He picked up a donut and bit into it. Rather good, he may have a new favorite food.

"I'm afraid it was. Now here we sit. Are we enemies or allies? These are things we should decide upon, we must discover our goals before we try to reach them." Light's fauxlisophical speech irritated him.

"My goal is clear. It is your motives that I question."

"My wish is to rid this world of the rotten. Your father is rotten as well, so I allow you to continue your own quest."

"I am not so selfish that that is my only motive! I shall make this world a safe place for all who are weak, that is what the Black Knights stand for!" Light's eyebrows raised.

"So it appears we are on the same side Lelouch. For now." he tossed an apple from hand to hand "So what do you wish to know?" So was this what he wanted to speak about. To make sure that he knew he was only a piece. It seemed he and Light were playing each other to reach the same goal.

"How do you kill?" how much information would Light offer him? This would likely be his most safeguarded information. The apple from his hands was tossed into the air and fell back into his hands.

"It's good to see you have some sense. You may eat it Ryuk." Tossing the apple into the air, it remained suspended for several seconds as it slowly disappeared into some unseen creature. "That was Ryuk. I tell him who to kill and he does so. I did plan to kill you at first, but I couldn't speak your name aloud to him. A rash move, in fact it was more of an experiment to see wether he would actually kill someone for me."

"So this, thing, it does whatever you tell it to?" It was strange the way Light divulged information like this. He had to entertain the notion that he was lying.

"Not at all. Ryuk is rather fickle and does whatever he wants, except for his duty which is to kill those who I request."

"That doesn't explain how someone dies every hour on the hour."

"I gave him a list. He kills them at his leisure, which is usually one piece of filth per hour. Says it's too much work otherwise." Lelouch thought this over. That meant that if the invisible beast decided to ramp up it's killings it would. Light apparently exerted little control over it as well. It was a great deal of a wild card.

"Can you trust it only to kill those you say?"

"Yes. Until my death, he shall only kill who I say." Until his death. Did that mean any future deaths would stop if he was killed? Still, Lelouch didn't want to waste any more time with details.

"This means you are Kira."

"Well yes after a fashion. I do chose who will die, even if I don't do the deed myself."

"How did you get your geass?"

"Now I'll be keeping some secrets to myself." So it seemed that Light had some things he would keep hidden. Perhaps they were contrary to his own interests and that was the reason.

"Well I suppose if you refuse to inform me on your geass' origin, would you tell me its usage? I have deduced that it seems to make the target feel guilt for past transgressions, albeit amplified somehow."

"Very good. My power is known as Wabisuke, the ability to judge, to make sinners repent for their crimes. Unlike your power, it is not limited to once per person." Penance and judgement. Controlling an invisible being that could slay whoever he wished. He must think he would become God or perhaps he already had that notion. There was nothing further he wished to ask of him that he would answer.

"Is there anything you are going to ask of me before I go then?"

"No. It is clear we are not necessarily opposed to each other. I look forward to working with you in the future."

* * *

L stalked the hallways. Lelouch and Light seemed to share many of the same classes, however they were most definitely not partners in the same scheme. Lelouch seemed constantly wary of Light, who in turn seemed to keep an eye on Lelouch but did not plan on taking any action. As he wandered the campus, the replacement teacher called to him.

"Hey Ryu, I'll be assigning Light to a project with Lelouch in about half an hour."

"Oh. I see." Why in the world had the teacher commented to him? Still the information was useful, it implied Light would not be to his quarters for another 30 minutes. L hadn't done any old fashioned snooping in a long while, he missed it. With his usual slouching walk he approached the old greenhouse, Light's recent quarters. Apparently it had been arranged by someone rather high up in the government. It also happened after he returned from his trip to the EU, a peculiar coincidence; his trail unmarked. So was there government involvement? Perhaps.

After a quick lockpicking, L walked into Light's residence. Where should he begin, Light's room perhaps? After a single wrong turn into the guest bedroom, he opened the door to see a green haired girl snooping about.

"Hello there." he called, walking into the room. She seemed to be inspecting Light's bookcase and the disorganized fashion implied that she'd also been rummaging through the closet and drawers. The desk had yet to be touched, so that was where he headed.

"What are you doing here?" She seemed mildly threatened and spoke in a cold voice, lacking ordinary human emotion. Not that L knew too much about that.

"The same as you I would assume." Only one drawer was locked. Would Light keep the key on him and risk it being lost or stolen? No matter, it would be no more difficult than the front door.

"That would imply you knew what I was doing here. As I've never seen you before I doubt that to be the case."

"Only the most thickheaded of fools would be unable to tell you've been trying to find something." Opening the drawer, he felt something shift. It was more than the fake diary on top. Did Light really believe he could fool someone with a diary? An imbecile could tell that Light would never wright his thoughts down, unless absolutely necessary. Now what was it beneath the false bottom, L placed his ear to it and closed his eyes.

"You are rather adept at this."

"If we aren't going to discuss anything, cease talking. I'm a bit busy." My that girl was annoying. There was the sound of fluid sloshing back and forth and the faintest odor of gasoline. A trap. Now how to disarm it, looking at the bottom of the drawer there was a small hole. Looking back to the top of the desk he eyed the bowl of small knick-knacks. A paperclip bent back into shape. Ordinary paperclips. An new eraser and several old ones. Light didn't seem to be the type to keep such things. With a thoughtful hmmm, he turned his attention to the jar of pencils and pens. Aha! One of the pens had been dissembled and put back together. The hole on the bottom of the drawer was just the right size, L looked to the green haired girl, jealously guarding his solution to the problem.

"It makes me uneasy when you stare at me like that." He shut the drawer smoothly and walked over to the girl looking into her amber eyes. She was to collected to be one of those silly creatures that fawned over Light. Lelouch may have sent her as he kept Light busy. However, they both were due back in another 15 or so minutes. Ah, but neither of them knew that, Lelouch probably had full intentions to keep Light delayed in class. Now, were there any other possibilities, anything to disprove this theory. It was crucial not to let his own ego distort his perception of reality. Other possible suspects, the government? No, if they were to send someone they would be more competent than this girl. Some other group? Unlikely, there was a very high probability she had some ties to Lelouch.

"What does Lelouch think he is looking for?"

"He is not looking for anything." She turned her back to him.

"I don't feel as if we have time to debate semantics."

"Well if you don't have the time, then I suppose I'll be on my way then."

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Most irritating she was indeed.

"My common alias on these grounds is Aizawa. Your alias is?"

"More than one false name? You must be a tricky one then. I should warn Lelouch about you." L rubbed his sleep-shadowed eyes. He'd had enough of this, he left the room in favor of the kitchen. He opened the fridge and frowned, nothing but fruit, vegetables and a pizza. Pizza would have to do. Opening the box he saw that there were three pieces remaining. Unless Light was a big eater, it seemed highly unusual. The amber eyed one had already left a presence, so he picked up a piece. The girl snatched the piece from behind and took a bite.

Unforgivable! He swiped at her legs, though surprised, she obviously had training in combat. Still, he caught her left leg causing her to tumble to the ground. L leapt for the pizza, but his opponent kicked her legs into his stomach propelling him into the air. He managed to turn so that it was a solid impact on his ribs and dealt no damage and enabling him to land in a crouch. Rushing again he slammed his elbow into her stomach as she made a move to stand up and she lost the slice. Nimble jumping off a chair he caught the pizza midair and tore off a bite. The taste of the tomato sauce, with the cheese on a light fluffy crust.

L frowned. It was a bit much effort for something so bland.

"You fight fairly well." he commented between bites, as the girl struggled on the ground. "I wonder how Lelouch got you. Anyhow, he and light will be here soon so I'd best be going." The girl lay still momentarily before standing up.

"Who are you?" L ignored the question and headed for the door.

"There are still two slices left if you want any."


	14. Chapter 14

Code Light Chapter 14: Note-Napping

* * *

Light contemplated his options. His instructions to keep Lelouch alive were simple enough, the prince had a well-developed sense of self preservation. He did not wish to become idle, but truth be told matters slowed as he solved his problems one by one. Still this made Ryuk rather anxious and although complacent for the time being the shinigami would not be contented for long.

"Why are you still reading that thing Light, you must have read it a dozen times already."

"I have a feeling I missed something." He'd missed nothing after the second reading, which was only necessary due to him being interrupted by V.V.. The book had proved to be a valuable resource, listing various folklore referring to the dead returning to life and other phenomena. As it would seem there could very well be a third Immortal as close as the Chinese Federation as far as recent sightings had insinuated. Still, it would probably be best to help Lelouch achieve his goal before leaving him exposed. The boy couldn't even defend himself even with geass.

Light would settle for more testing with the Death Note. Acquiring parts to fit his printer to the notebook had been cheap, but tedious. Should he be able to use the printer, he could set up a near automated machine. He could type faster than he could write and once he found a way to get rid of Charles and V.V. he would not be forced to limit himself. Patience was needed however, an experimental Immortal would be needed to test their methods and limits of revival.

After turning on the printer Light frowned when he arrived at his rummaged desk. Apparently C.C. had managed to open the drawer but failed to detect the false bottom. Although she had made it uncomfortably close. He was irked at the fact that he'd nearly lost a tool for justice to the hands of a rouge Immortal, though glad his trap had workers so well.

The results ended as he had predicted. Printers could be used to specify time, place and the like, however imagining the face of the victim was also required. So the mechanism was largely useless, only he most minor of conveniences.

Ryuk watched intently with something akin to a frown plastered on his gruesome visage.

* * *

Lelouch yawned as slowly built a scenario for the semi-aquatic Alphei frame. Based on rapid formation of cavitation bubbles blah blah blah. He did have more time to talk with Suzaku, but that hardly made up for his slave driver of a partner. The foreknowledge had given him time to develop countermeasures however, the Black Knights even managed to get some of the military to snare their own units with the strange new weapon. Mr. Lehrer had temporarily stepped out and Lloyd slipped in.

"Good afternoon." Lelouch greeted not turning away from the screen.

"You sure are working hard there. But you don't really seem to be getting into it very much. I accepted Suzaku's recommendation of you because he said you were a rather ambitious fellow, however I'm not quite seeing that." Lelouch frowned, he was determined. His cause for working in the lab was espionage, not research.

"I am more one to solve problems than to spontaneously generate them."

"Is that so? Hmm perhaps I should rig something up to make you more at home here. You aren't half bad, just a little lacking in what precisely I need." Lloyd frittered flippantly about the room paging through stacks of paper. Though he wasn't making a big fuss the ruffling of the papers was still slightly distracting.

"Could I help you find something?" Hopefully he could help Lloyd find what he was looking for and remove the distraction. His boss ignored him and with an Aha! picked up a pile of papers and left.

* * *

"This is most interesting." Lloyd muttered to himself, grabbing some pudding from a mini-fridge. He looked at the papers, at the process. Most of it was insight, however these were the pages Mr. Lehrer had yet to show him. Original knightmare frames. Of course they were disguised, distributed as parts of several different schematics of mediocre frames. Skillfully done, Lloyd would never have noticed if he hadn't already been suspicious, but it seemed reminiscent of Watari. Oh Watari! Though not the revolutionary as the Ashfords had been, his redesign of the interface and power core had been revolutionary! His work had centered on more domestic utilities as well, but Lloyd took no interest in that. What could Watari be doing here though? Doubtless his personal funds were more or less equal to the meager amount that Schneizel allotted him.

"Ah well..." Lloyd sighed. He may as well take the boon as he had it and resumed enjoying his pudding.

* * *

"Hey Lelouch, have things settled down between you and Light?"

"Yes, the matter resolved itself quite nicely." Staring out the window, he wondered if C.C. found anything earlier in the day. He hadent the time yet to pull her aside for a private chat.

"Oh really? How so?" Suzaki didn't seem too surprised, but then again he seemed to be focusing more on the road than the conversation.

"Well while we talked he figured there was really no love lost between the emperor and myself. He also came to the conclusion that I am quite unlike other royals."

"I can see how he figured that. Anyhow were you able to figure out the project? Wait, that's a stupid question, of course you did. Could you help me and Kallen on the project? I'd never be able to understand why the EU backed out of Australia on my own."

"I'd be happy to help." It would be relaxing to spend social time with Suzaku again. He could also use this as an excuse to get closer to Kallen in this persona. He wanted to know what she thought about Light. It was doubtful she'd talk about her feelings for the new coworker to her boss. Kallen became much less suspiscious after the phone call, but as oblivious as she was he doubted the ruse would last long. Perhaps he could try to pass himself off as an informat, a private information broker, to Zero. Still, he wanted her to see this mask as a friend and not a fellow conspirator.

Suzaku dropped him off at the main gates to Ashford before driving back to his second rate apartment. Lelouch wished he would let him help out, but his friend insisted on being self supporting. Though he'd never actually been, Suzaku informed him that his shack was a humble abode and that they should meet at the Stadtfeld Estate the following afternoon. Lelouch hoped it would go over well when Kallen was informed, she seemed to think that Lelouch Lamprouge was a bit pompous.

•••

"So what did you find?" He asked as he entered his room to find C.C. snuggled up with the ridiculous Cheese-Kun on his bed.

"A strange boy kicked me while I was there. Do something about it." C.C. pouted bitterly. Lelouch hated it when she foot like this, what did she mean anyway when she said someone kicked her?

"I thought you would be an expert combatant after centuries of training." He goaded. She usually divulged more information in her snappy retorts.

"Well he's even better. He can pick locks too, I just busted in through one of the glass panes."

"I thought you could pick locks."

"I can, I just didn't feel like it at the time." Careless. Why would she go about just breaking windows?

"So what where you fighting over? Did you find any information or clues?"

"I believe he found something, but he wouldn't reveal it while I was there."

"You'll have to go back then, won't you?"

C.C. let out a hmmph and rolled over. Lelouch shoved her to the side and lay down, wishing she could have at least figured out who the mystery man was. She was a strange one, always calling herself his accomplice, yet never doing more than she had to for him. A mystery was what she was to him, but what was he to her? C.C. said she made the contract so that he could fulfill her wish, but Lelouch didn't know what she wanted. Perhaps he would figure it out one day, but tired from working and plotting he drifted to sleep.

•••

The Stadtfeld Estate wasn't exactly impressive compared to the Aries Villa, however it was rather impressive compared to how he'd been living for the past years. He waited for Suzaku to catch up with him before knocking on the door. A japanese maid opened the door and greeted them.

"Welcome. I see you brought a friend with you. I will take you to Kallen's room."

Suzaku knocked on Kallen's door and waited.

"Hey Suzaku, I..." seeing Lelouch her expression fell flat. This was wonderful, his old friend must have forgotten to warn his partner he was coming. She seemed rather galled that he managed to tag along. Getting closer to her wasn't going to be easy, that was for sure.

"You brought Lelouch I see."

"Yeah I thought he could help us out."

"Well I already invited Light to help out." Oh that was wonderful, Light. Still his disdain was more of a conditioned reaction, it wasn't the infuriation he'd felt when Light discovered his identity.

"Light and I are partners. I suppose we'll just work in conjunction with you two." The group sat around the small table in Kallen's room. Unfortunately for Lelouch it seemed the chairs were supposed to decorative and not actually sat upon, it was killing his backside. He helped Suzaku with the events of the failed landing at Weipa, trying to explain the misinformation to the german fleet. Kallen for the most part seemed to ignore him, preferring to talk to Light. There were gaps of silence as both Suzaku and Kallen worked.

"Lelouch, was the source of disinformation ever revealed?"

"Hmm?"

"The disinformation, it seems it had been used in every key battle. Why didn't the EU ever catch on?" What was Suzaku talking about, was that true? He mentally went over the key battles, Weipa, Townsville, Rockhampton... hold on.

"You seem to be right, most of the decisive victories happened on the east coast."

"But their armies were primarily stationed on the west coast." Light countered "The number of units stationed on the east coast were minimal."

"Yes, but those on the east coast still did win more decisive victories, even with fewer units."

"So what do you think about it?" Light seemed to grin at Lelouch's statement.

"I think this calls for our immediate attention partner." Apparently Light hadn't managed to reach this conclusion before him. As intelligent as he was, he was no god. He turned to Suzaku and Kallen "I'm afraid Light and I must depart for some extra research."

* * *

"That was not the most graceful exit." Light stated as he drove Lelouch back to Ashford Academy. It seemed the boy did on occasion prove that he was intelligent as well. Lelouch narrowed his eyes.

"Graceful or not, the events reek of the use of geass. We should look into it."

"Yes but where are we going to start? The only information we have deduced thus far is the fact that a geas user may have been on the east coast." Of course Light could make his own quick trip down to Australia when he was sure Lelouch wouldn't be in danger. Government backing had benefits, perhaps he could requisition a private jet. That would be useful, but he didn't wish to overstep his boundaries.

"I'll ask C.C. if she knows anything about geass in Australia. We can also look for people who's movements match the dates of the battles." Lelouch seemed so confident while he spoke, it was ridiculous. He seemed nearly proud of his plan, it hardly surpassed common sense. Only an imbecile wouldn't try referencing movements. As for asking C.C., Light doubted she had anything to do with it and the fact Lelouch didn't think to look for another Immortal meant he thought C.C. was the only one who could. However he knew about Light's geass so that didn't make any sense, perhaps Lelouch just overlooked the fact.

"Ryuk, has anyone with geass died in Australia?"

"What are you talking about Light? I don't know that kind of stuff." Ryuk cocked his head, before a moment of realization hit the slow witted creature. "I get it! Your tricking him! He knows I exist but can't hear my answers! That's a good one!"

"He said yes, but the way he's laughing suggests there's some trickery involved." Indeed Light was trying to speak over Ryuk's guffaws, even though he knew Lelouch wouldn't hear them.

"Try asking him if anyone with geass has died after the war."

"No."

"So if he did exist, he would still be alive today."

"I suppose I'd best make arrangements to go to Australia then. I assume you'll wish to send someone with the Black Knights, even though we are on good terms I doubt you trust me that far yet." Of course he wouldn't send one of the Black Knights with him, he'd send someone who already knew about geass and that meant C.C.. She was a pain, but Light could be able to squeeze more information about geass and Immortals out of her.

"Well, your right on that. C.C. will go with you." The car pulled up to Ashford. "I'll go tell C.C. to start packing. Try not to let her get too out of hand."

"Of course." Light smiled. Exactly as planned.

* * *

Author's Note: Blarblarblar. I read Dauntless and now I'm getting my characters all confused. Ah well.


	15. Chapter 15

Code Geass Chapter 15: Pack Your Bags

* * *

Once again as Lelouch entered his room, C.C. lay upon his bed. Did she have some sort of instinct that let her know when he would be back, or did she really do nothing all the time? He wondered if she had appropriate to wear for the trip, it needed to be practical. It was likely Light would try something, he knew Lelouch wouldn't send one of the Black Knights and probably inferred that he would send C.C.. However, suspecting this was his plan he would also need to send someone along to watch them. He didn't want to stick Kallen with Light and he didn't want Ohgi leaving the group, he was the old leader. Tamaki was a fool. Perhaps Ryuzaki would be his best choice, he seemed to have a personal interest in following Light.

"C.C., start packing. You will be accompanying Light on a trip to Australia."

"Oh am I? And why would I be doing that?"

"You are going to be keeping an eye on Light as he searches for a geass user. There have been clues to indicate someone with the ability to decieve roamed the eastern coast of Australia during the war. Do you have anything suitable to wear on such a trip? Light will probably try something, so you'd best wear something you can fight in."

"Or else what, I'll die?"C.C. scoffed "I'll have to do some shopping. I've not done that for the longest time."

"How far should I trust Light, C.C.?" He sat down next to her.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"As you are constantly reminding me of, we have a contract. Having my interest at heart is in your own interest, so I value your opinion."

"You both may have need for each other, but it is clear that Light will not hesitate to kill you as soon as he sees it to his benefit. As we are not aware of every factor, I believe it would be a mistake to get anywhere near him." She stood up and headed to the closet, removing a case for her clothes and began packing the few outfits she acquired with Lelouch's money.

"Still, Light is a valuable asset for us to use."

"That is precisely why he is dangerous. You are the same to him and he is much more inclined to dispose of you." C.C. had a point, the risks were undeniable. However Lelouch just had to dispose of Light first and there was no need to dispose of him yet.

"I am also going to be sending Ryuzaki to keep an eye on him. Light will notice and likely conduct his own investigation of him."

"Two birds with one stone?"

"Yes and I expect you to bring the birdies back in pristine conditions.

* * *

"Aww dammit! I lost again! There's no way anyone's this good, you're cheating you bastard!" L frowned, although Watari informed him he has an underdeveloped sense of social skills, even he knew it was bad form to react like this. Tamaki certainly was hot-headed and even stupider than Matsuda.

"Calm down Tamaki, it's just a game of dominoes." Ohgi made an attempt to pacify his comrade, but to little avail. Ever since Lelouch had acquired the transport, dubbed the Zeromobile by the fantastically creative and original Aizawa, it seemed to have members dressed in uniform constantly stationed. Permanent residents besides himself included Ohgi as well as some unimportant henchwoman.

Ohgi drank coffee regularly, in a disgusting, unsweetened state. Matsuda frequently brewed some up for him as he worked on finding jobs. Apparently Zero didn't have any insight into where to find the problems in the slums. Ohgi handled the specifics, finding corrupt officials selling relief supplies, organizing their own relief efforts and Ohgi's current thread of investigation, taking down a refrain dealership. He was desicated to the cause, and while he illicited positive reactions from the Black Knights he didn't seem all that fit for leadership.

"I don't see why you're even here, we can't trust you! I don't see how Sero would let scum like you even enter the Black Knights!" Tamaki stood up and continued yelling. Volatile as he was, L figured Zero secretly wishes he had an excuse to get rid of Tamaki. However with the size of the resistance as it was, he couldn't just let to of anyone. Perhaps removing him would have to wait.

"I don't see what trust has to do with it. Our interests coincide, we are not enemies."

"You shot one of your own to protect your face! You're a monster who wants nothing to do getting Brittania out of Japan." He shook his fist and seemed even more enraged by the fact that his spiel garnered no interest from L.

"Calm down Tamaki,". Ohgi rested a hand upon his friend's shoulder. "There's no need to start a fight."

"I don't know about Ryuzaki, but I'm fighting to end tyranny. Not just here but in every number district!" Matsuda interjected. The henchwoman, Naomi Inoue, chuckled.

"You really plan to liberate the whole world from Brittania? A little presumptuous don't you think?"

"Settle down. This is why I felt we shouldn't stop for a break, there is work to be done." Unfortunately within the hierarchy of the Black Knights, he did't have the authority to order them back to work. The room settled back down and returned to their duties.

Naomi's duties related to logistics, she worked with Ohgi much of the time checking ole retrain operations were feasible. Matsuda was the office pet, he walked around with encouraging words, doling out coffee as needed. He also had theminor job of occasionally making calls to prospected recruits, which was rare and scripted. L's own job included staring at some monitors while he thought. He did get Matsuda to watch the screens for him while he got something to eat.

On one trip back from the fridge with an Italian Ice he noted over Tamaki's shoulder

"Eight minus five is three, not one." L practically sighed as he said it. He knew Tamaki spent money on stupid things, but now he was embezzling? Actually it could probably be attributed to stupidity and not malice or greed.

"Mind your own damn business." He huffed, rubbing away his eraser at the page.

"Move the decimal point from there to here." L jabbed a finger at the paper. This was the last straw for Tamaki, who stood up and threw a punch at him. L simply cocked his head to one side, the fist flying harmlessly past. Cons of engaging in a fight with Tamaki: Making Tamaki angrier, Black Knights losing trust in him, Matsuda getting angry at him, potential loss of information from the organization. Pros of engaging in a fight with Tamaki: Matsuda getting angry at him, getting Tamaki to shut up around him. Difficult choice.

"Stand still, dammit!" Tamaki was still throwing punches and L dodged while he thought. He caught a nice vase as his opponent clumsily punched a table, reeling back in pain.

"Come now, I've yet to throw even a punch."

"Ryuzaki, Tamaki, what is going on here?" The cavalry had arrived, Ohgi trying to place himself between the two.

"I was merely helping him with his subtraction."

"Ryuzaki, I'm not sure what you're playing at but I am sick of you goading Tamaki. Your presence here is barely tolerated by the rest of us and I will see to it that Zero hears of this." Ohgi fully stopped Tamaki and showed the reason he must have been chosen as leader of the resistance. His usual spinelessness seemed to be due to the fact he did not wish to usurp Zero.

"I don't think we should blame Ryuzaki too much. In case you hadn't noticed his social skills aren't exactly equal to his brainpower."

"Matsuda, I can hear you whispering over there."

"It's not just that Matsuda. You genuinely wish to free Japan and end oppression across the globe. He doesn't treat it like that. To him it is some game he plays with Zero against Brittania. Ryuzaki may work with us but he is not one of us."

"No, I clearly am not. I wish to accomplish my goal, while you on the other hand make every step a moral battle." Not strictly true, he supposed. However L did resort to using the most efficient and accurate techniques as his first move. The Black Knights fought under their own definition of justice and refused to use methods as direct as his own.

Unlike the resistance group, L did not see himself as the moral arbiter of the world. Using unconventional and drastic measures was not a deplorable act, the goal was to end the war and Brittania, not fight for as long as possible. His methods may be questionable, but removing Brittania and their untruths would bring about justice.

"I will be informing Zero of this."

"Of that I have no doubt."

* * *

Light packed the barest essentials for his trip. Formal wear, casual clothes, money and identification. There was no need to bring the Death Note with him, though he contemplated the idea. Airport security could be waved somewhat, but should they so much as touch the Death Note, they would see Ryuk. There was also the fact would be traveling with C.C. and she was a bit too nosy to keep it with him.

"Ryuk, is there a limit to how many pages I can remove from the Note?"

"No, why?"

"And the Death Note never runs out of pages?"

"Nope, don't want you to stop killing just because you ran out." Light smiled at the ridiculousness of his discovery. If he continuously pulled pages from the Death Note and burned them, he could make a small electrical generator. It would be an egregious misuse of his godly might, but it certainly was amusing. Decidimg that if his pages were not limited, he would take several with him. Light could keep several pages in his socks for emergency use.

"Light, not to question you, but if you're trying to become god of the new world, why are you doing this? I don't get it, shouldn't you be trying to kill V.V.?"

"Ryuk, if I am going to become god of the new world I must be able to live so that I may keep the peace. Information on the immortals is of my top priority. Once I gain that power then I am garunteed the ability to save this world from itself."

Light checked his watch, it was only 3:00. If he hurried and Lelouch was able to convince C.C. then they could be off and in Australia by morning. He picked up his suitcase after resetting the trap he left for the Note. He tossed Ryuk an apple before beckoning for him to follow.

"Eat up, it will be a long time before you get another."

•••

Knocking on the door to the clubhouse, Sayoko opened the door.

"Good afternoon Light, how are you? I am afraid master Lelouch just returned, so I am not sure if he is ready to receive any guests." There was slight tension between them. The last time they had spoken had been when Light had revealed Lelouch's identity as prince. It did seem as if things had been smoothed over however, if not forgotten.

"I know, in fact I was the one who just dropped him off. However there are still some things we forgot to go over."

"I understand. Would you like me to bring him here then?"

"No that's fine. How is Nunnally?"

"Fairly well, although she does miss her brother quite often. He is becoming rather scarce around the house as of late."

"I believe I could help with that by dealing with some of his responsibilities. That's what I am going to get to now, if you'll excuse me."Light ducked out of the conversation, there wasn't much time for extended small talk. He walked briskly to Lelouch's room, opening the door to find just C.C.

"Where has Lelouch gone off to?" Hopefully the prince wasn't dithering about. Intelligent he may have been, but occasionally he lacked initiative.

"He's gone to fetch me new clothes for our romantic getaway together." What passed for pity within Light showed. Lelouch had to deal with this creature? She must have some mitigating factor that made Lelouch keep her around. Sayoko had also not noticed his disappearance and she was no fool. Lelouch must hav intentionally snuck away, probably toale contact with the Black Knights to assign a secret guard to him.

"We can buy you clothes when we get there. I would like to get there as soon as possible and what you are wearing is suitable for the plane." He took her hand and tugged lightly.

"Shouldn't we get married before going on our honeymoon?" Ryuk was finding the situation quite humerous and Light openly scowled at him. Let the Immortal know he had his own god on his side, as childish as the god was. He toiled her arm more forcefully and she didn't resist.

"We might as well make that as our cover if anyone is to ask. Your name will be Caroline if anyone is to ask and we've ruin away to Australia to get married." He sighed slightly. It was fantastically cliché, but Light supposed things became cliché because they worked well and often. He took her be the arm and started off.

"What do you hope to gain from all of this?" This was the voice he expected of an Immortal. Cold and cutting, without any nonsense, a break from the cheery facade.

"Immortality, no less." He whispered back.

"This is why I love humans," Ryuk announced "there's no reason for them to whisper, but they do it anyway. So dramatic!"


	16. Chapter 16

Code Light Chapter 16: An Arduous Flight

* * *

"Let's go, be sure to stay in character. Happy couple off to be married, utterly infatuated with each other." he allowed himself one exasperated sigh before C.C. latched herself to his right arm. As they walked they did gain a few glares, though Light wrote them off. The stares were from those unbelieving that an apparent Brittanian would stoop to being with an eleven. The airport looked like the rest of the Brittanian sector of Area Eleven, smooth and polished, clean to a fault.

"So when is the next available flight?" Light asked. He was attempting to find a faster way to his destination, but he'd never travelled by air publicly before. He should have just gone ahead and requisitioned a jet.

"I am afraid the next flight to Sydney is three hours from now."

"Is there really nothing faster? We need to get to Hyde Park by tomorrow at noon."

"Yes, we're going to have our wedding recital there, please dont make us late." C.C. chimed in snuggling into the crook of his neck. It was a bit of over-acting, but her wide eyes and pleading look were good enough. Light was also surprised at how soft her hair was, it felt strange on his shoulder. Still the man must have bought the act for he was back at the screen.

"I can offer you some first class tickets, but it will be rather pricey. However last minute as it is there will be some discount putting it at a little over $9,000."

"They're over $9,000? I hope that doesn't break the bank Light, I hope you don't end up tied down over this. That would be boring." Oh Ryuk, of course he could use $9,000, it was a paltry amount. Government funding and the careful investment of the liberated finances of criminals left him very wealthy. He put on a grateful and joyful smile.

"That would be wonderful, thank you!"

"Here are your tickets then. You better hurry, the gates open in 10 minutes and you still have to get through security."

"Oh thank you very much!" C.C. cried, planting a kiss on Light as he grabbed the tickets "Let's go my beloved."

The two rushed through the airport, dodging the Brittanians returning to the homeland. For the most part the Japanese were unable to leave, so the travelers were mostly Brittanian with few people from the EU. Light scanned the crowds for anyone familiar from the Black Knights. Perhaps he and C.C. had been able to move soon enough that Light had been unable to make contact in time. It would not serve to throw caution to the wind however.

Unfortunately, his companion was not as adept as steering through crowds while attached to someone's arm. She pulled him right as he went left and ended up walking straight into a young man with sandals and sunglasses. The three collapsed into a pile and the stranger let out a strangled yell.

"My apologies," There was something vaguely familiar about the voice, though it quavered. It didn't sound familiar, but most people would have had more of a reaction. Perhaps he had been sent by Lelouch? Light's role called for him to help C.C., though; not question the suspicious character.

"Are you hurt Caroline?" He helped her return to her feet which she had absolutely no problem doing. Glancing at the stranger, Light noted that his feet were rather red and yet calloused, unaccustomed to shoes it would seem. Why was that familiar?

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"I have escaped our fall unscathed." They embraced

"It seems you two have really fallen for each other." The figure on the ground remarked in a dead tone. C.C. turned to him, offering him a hand but he declined.

"Are you OK? We're sorry we're in a bit of a rush."

"it's fine," standing up gracefully into a standing position "I'll be on my way now." He sauntered back off into the mass of people.

"I think I may recognize him..." C.C. began to ponder.

"My sweet C.C., we don't have time for that. Our plane leaves rather soon." They could discuss the matter later, at the moment they had a plane to catch.

* * *

L bought himself many packets of cookies trying to calm himself. He also needed the extra energy to think about what he just saw. When he'd fallen into a pile with Light and C.C., he'd noticed something folded into Lights sock. As soon as he removed the notebook paper, a huge beast appeared with leathery wings, grayish skin and bulging yellow eyes with the most endless red pupils. It seemed that no one else noticed it however, the creature floated nonchalantly behind the faux couple passing through passer-byers.

He unfolded the paper to find it blank. How did it relate to the winged creature? Perhaps the item in the drawer at Light's house was a notebook and was the origin of this piece of paper. Then again that didn't actually explain anything, it was just a fanciful imagining. But L had just witnessed a monster invisible to most suddenly appear after he grabbed the paper. Logic seemed to be taking a holiday and L doubted it was going to be found on the beaches of Australia.

Gathering more data would be top priority. L picked up an overpriced milkshake for his brain before setting out. Light and C.C. wouldn't discover anything while on the plane nor be able to discuss business. He could take a jet to Sydney and arrive before they did and have time to set a new face on his disguise.

* * *

Light found the seating quite comfortable, though not quite comfortable enough for $4,500. He sank into the cushioned seat in the middle as C.C. stared out the window. To his left was a middle aged man, Ryuk sitting through him in the strangest juxtaposition Light had ever borne witness to. His shinigami was behaving himself for once, though that was probably due to the fact that he was asleep.

"It certainly has been a long time since I've been home. I wonder what we will find when we get there."

"Let's just enjoy the time we have together now. The future would come soon enough." Light had not intention of partaking in an easily misinterpreted and overheard conversation. They could wait until later to discuss things. Unfortunately it seemed that the two were both great actors.

"You two make such a charming couple!" The man to his left fawned. Light was skilled at many things and improv was no exception.

"My darling C.C. is the most beautiful thing to ever exist."

"Light is both handsome and a gentleman."

"You two are perfect for each other and I would know. I work as the photographer for the royal family. Say would you mind if I got a couple pictures of you together?" Great, they ended up sitting next to a fool with no sense of social norms. Perhaps agreeing would get him to shut up.

"So long as Caroline agrees."

"I don't see why not. So long as we get some copies as well." She gave Light a mischevious smile. She knew better than to trifle with him, yet she still seemed determined to get under his skin. The photdelighted was positively delighted.

"Fantastic! My name is Rory Williams, here's my card. I can't wait to see you at my studio. How does Tuesday sound? That will give you a day to get settled in. Why are you traveling to Australia anyhow, you aren't married, there's no ring, so it can't be for a honeymoon." Damn, this chatter box simply wouldn't shut up.

"Actually we're going to get married. C.C. is originally from this area, that's why we're coming here."

"Oh really? When's the wedding, I'd be honored to attend!"

"We haven't really got the specifics nailed down yet. My family wouldn't approve you see..." The photographer interrupted him, keeping him from digging this story any deeper.

"But love conquers all! How romantic! If you really haven't set it up, I'll gladly help. In my line of work I meet many folks that deal with this kind of thing. There's one chef who I've built a close friendship with over the years, I'll bet he knows good caterers in the area! The parks are also quite lovely, would an outdoor service do? Oh I can't wait, this will be fantastic!"

"Oh Light, I just can't wait! Thank you Mr. Williams!"

"So Ms. Caroline I assume your parents support this? I take it they paid for the tickets." C.C. gave a small sob and watered up her eyes. Oh there was no way they were going to play this game. What was she thinking? True he would have laughed had it not so adversely affected him. There was no going back now, Light figured he shouldn't give her the leeway of ambiguous syntax anymore.

"No, I'm afraid they have passed on." He held her hand and squeezed it, hoping to provide at least a modicum of discomfort.

"Oh dear that's terrible! Then how did you manage if her parents are...gone and your's disapprove?"

"Do you think we can tell him? I know it is not something you wish to be reminded of, but I feel we should tell him." Great. Now he had a grand secret he was ashamed of. C.C. really worked to make his life hell. Light didn't want to hand her the reigns of the situation, but he really couldn't come up with a fitting fabrication. Although his darling C.C. seemed to have something in mind, which did not bode well. He nodded for her to go ahead and braced himself. She leaned over him and he barely caught the whispers which made him pale.

"He's the son of the...unmarried Marianne vi Brittania and a Japanese nobleman. He came into the family fortune several years ago, although he rarely uses it. It is a rather shameful thing and I'd appreciate you not speaking of this to anyone."

"I understand." The photographer responded in a hushed voice. What a buffoon to believe such a tall tale! How was he ever to escape from this lie? "I will make this a fitting marriage for a son of Lady Marianne and his most beautiful bride-to-be."

Light begrudgingly addressed the details of the upcoming marriage with Rory. Actually after momentary consideration he wondered if he could benefit from marrying C.C.. Actually that brought up interesting tangents, had C.C. ever married someone before? If she'd been alive for centuries, surely there could have been someone. However she didn't seem to be the type to become attached to people, e wished there was something more to occupy his time than these imaginings. Now he also had to give up his searching for the next three days and killing Rory now was the only was out of it, however if he really was a photographer for nobles, perhaps he'd be more useful alive. Perhaps three days was an acceptable payment for a useful contact.

* * *

Lelouch was glad he'd sent Ryuzaki off to follow Light. It seemed he managed to prod Tamaki at every available opportunity, even though it wasn't without reason. The buffoon could hardly do simple addition without being distracted and screwing up. Unfortunately the buffoon also had a hair-trigger temper, blowing up in Ryuzaki's face every several minutes. Ohgi stood before him, wishing to speak on the matter.

"Zero, I don't feel as if Ryuzaki is fit for the Black Knights. He treats the war as a game, the consequences are nothing to him. On top of that he provokes Tamaki incessantly and is entirely tactless."

"Although not without tactics. Even if he does not work alongside us perfectly, what matters is results. Ryuzaki achieves those with astounding speed and independence. Though we both may disapprove of his methods, until the Brittanian Empire falls he will aid us."

"But I still don't understand why we need him! He killed that woman to protect himself! He is despicable!"

"Can you truly say that we are not despicable as well? We may fight for the greater good, but that does not mean that killing others is just. We will fight to save Japan and we will fight for Justice, but we must not shirk from what must be done!"

"I see." Ohgi looked solemn "So despite his callousness he remains with us due to his efficiency. I hope you will be rid of him if he ever becomes useless. Ryuzaki should not stay with us any longer than necessary." He turned and left.

Ohgi brought no new information to the table. Lelouch knew Ryuzaki had only his own interests at heart and that most of the Black Knights found his methods unacceptable. Only through explicit instruction had he been prevented from collapsing civilian areas as a diversion. He was dangerous to keep around, but he was useful. After joining he'd investigated, no spied, on most of the members. As it turned out several members of the Black Knights were being watched by members of the pureblood faction. It nearly led to the base being discovered, if not for its mobility and Ryuzaki dispatching the Brittanians.

Ryuzaki indeed helped the Black Knights, if only for his own gain. He was much like Light in that regard, posing a potential threat, but useful to the cause. However although Light may be more powerful with a Geass and a Death God his intentions were clear, he planned on following his own warped sense of justice. However Ryuzaki posed a more mysterious challenge, whatever he plotted it was for some hidden motive and Lelouch would be unable to plan against it. With two subservient geniuses who only joined for their own plots, he would need to tread carefully. Playing the two against each other wouldn't work, they were far too intelligent to fall for simple misdirection tricks. However both as they were, it would be likely with this little nudge they would be drawn to each other. But which would be the the moth and which the flame?


	17. Chapter 17

Code Light Chapter 17: Bake Me a Cake as Fast as You Can

* * *

"So what happened while I was asleep?" Ryuk asked, raiding the mini-fridge looking for apples. Light scowled at him, flipping through a calendar. At least the shinigami hadn't been awake for the exchange with Rory, he would have been tempted to relinquish the Death Note if it meant ignoring the god's guffaws as he watched.

"We are currently a bit tied up now Ryuk, it will be several days before we're able to take action."

"Oh really, what came up? I thought this was important stuff you were doing." Light ignored him, looking at his schedule. He decided to start with the broad strokes in the public records. Finding those in charge of the military at the time would be a priority, even if the geass user wasn't in the military, they would have needed some way to contact them to station the bulk of the troops on the west coast. First he had to deal with upcoming events.

"Did you say something Light?" C.C. dried her hair as she emerged from the shower, with only a towel around her. Perhaps it was the lighting, but Ryuk seemed to turn a little red. Light frowned, simply impudent to walk around unabashedly without clothes. Hundreds of years old and she'd yet to learn manners.

"No, I was speaking to Ryuk. Put some clothes on as well, we're not married yet."

"I'm so glad that you've warmed up to the idea," she jumped into the bed which Light sat upon, jostling him uncomfortably. "Say, will you ever introduce me to Ryuk, it'd be good to be able to see the best man for the wedding."

"Ooh, you're going to make me the best man Light? I'm honored that we're so close!"

"I'm afraid that even if we are to be married, I must keep some things to myself. Speaking of which I hope to get this over with quickly, we need to do some shopping tomorrow and you aren't to be too picky."

"You're taking me shopping tomorrow?" C.C. exclaimed in the most purposefully irritating voice. Ryuk chuckled as he rolled into bed beside her.

"Ryuk, turn off the light."

•••

There were quite a few stores to choose from, which made it all the easier for C.C. to irritate him. Even worse was that it would be unreasonable for his part to get angry at her. They were visiting the seventh store so far.

"How does this look?" C.C. twirled about. Apparently she wasn't a fan of the full length dresses, so they'd decided on a more informal wedding. Even so, it did look rather good on her.

"It looks perfect, more beautiful than the freshly fallen snow." Light was beginning to run out of compliments to give her after several hours of shopping. Oh the tedium of it all. Ryuk didn't appear to be enjoying himself either, he was staring out the window at a poster for a restraunt that had a partial picture of an apple in the lower left corner.

"I don't know, it seems a bit dull does it not?"

"Your beauty is so great it couldn't be hindered by simplicity. In fact it has a certain elegance to it." Would she just buy something already?

"The Way you're so accepting of each dress makes me think you just want to get this over with." She teased. His phone started to ring, it was Lelouch.

"No, it's just that you make everything desireable. If you'll let me, I have a phone call to answer darling." He gave her a quick kiss and then moved as quickly away as acceptable, which was nowhere near quick enough. Looking for a private place, there were none that met his standards. He settled for just the back corner of the store, there weren't many people around and they hadn't discovered anything that would need to be said.

"Hello Lelouch, checking in on us? There's nothing to say so far."

"Where are you?" So Lelouch hadn't sent someone to keep an eye after him. Surprising.

"I'm with C.C. in Australia, as we decided yesterday." Lelouch really couldn't handle losing control.

"You both just disappeared! I like to be informed of what is going on. Also, what C.C. was wearing isn't suitable for travel, I was returning with more appropriate clothing."

"What she was wearing isn't suitable?" Light gave a vitriolic laugh, "Are you her father?"

"You need to be careful with her, the government is looking for her. It would be best for her to be disguised, it would be rather unfortunate if you were to be caught."

"There is no need to worry about us Lelouch, you have your own matters to attend to. I will contact you when something occurs." Light us des the call before Lelouch could reply. He walked back over to C.C. who appeared to have a dress actually picked out, he refrained from asking if she was sure it was the one she wanted.

"Who was that?"

"Our friend Lelouch, sadly he couldn't make it."

"It's a shame he couldn't come. I know how close you two are."

"Yes now let's go pick out the cake hmm?"

* * *

L never even considered learning how to bake, however it seemed to be one of the most useful things he learned. No longer would he have to wait on Watari to bake him a cake as fast as he could, he could make his own cake! It was a bit of a nonsequitur for Light and C.C. To be getting married, but it seemed that both were acquainted enough with lies that they didn't think twice about it. He'd only heard the audio, but it seemed as though the pizza-theiving girl actual enjoyed the prospect. From meeting her earlier L decided that she probably enjoyed toying with people. That would imply that Light didn't enjoy the prospect of a wedding and going through with it was an unplanned event due to the appearance of the photographer.

Anyhow, back to the important cakes. Since they would be needing a caterer for their 'wedding' L intercepted the photographer Rory's call to his baker friend. He later called Rory back as the proud owner of 'This Cake is Not a Lie!' bakery. Rory subsequently messaged the couple L's new address and voila! he had made it into the wedding. Light and C.C. were scheduled to drop by to decide on what kind of cake and other assorted baked goods to make.

The tiny bell on the door gave a little dinging sound as Light and C.C. entered. Not C.C. to him however, Caroline. L briefly wondered if Light or Lelouch knew her real name. They had arms locked together and Light was carrying something, it looked like it might be pizza-theif's dress.

"Welcome! You must be Light and Caroline." He put on his best smile, which felt strange from underneath the mask. He probably wouldn't have to wear it too much longer, Light would discover him sooner or later.

"Yes, we are. Do you have any suggestions for us, you are the professional."

"Straight to the point I see. First some questions, how big is this event going to be? From what Rory told me you plan on having a small ceremony. About how many are going to be in attendance?"

"We're aiming for a small wedding, no more than two dozen." C.C. stepped in seamlessly. It was almost as if they practiced these lines beforehand, they fit together so well they could be an actual couple.

"Well then, a double layer cake will likely do just fine..." L's speech trailed off as he forced his eyes from looking upwards. The creature from before, floated in through the window of his shop. L spoke over it, listening to its words at the same time. "Now is there any particular theme for the cake?"

"Hey Light! This place sucks there are no apples here. What are you up to, getting a cake for your bride?" the beast chuckled "Hey wait, that guy's familiar somehow." He kept his eyes from widening and watched Light's face as C.C. browsed through the book of different styles.

"I got it! This is that L guy from the Black Knight guys and he might have been the guy who ran into you at the airport. It looks like he can change his face, I wonder how he does that?" Light gave no visible reaction as L tried to stare into his brain to watch the cogs moving. How did the creature know he was the same person? Considering the fact that he was making hypothesis on an invisible, floating semi-solid creature, there wasn't really a good standard for conjecture.

"We didn't have much planned in that department, we really don't have much experience in that department."

"I think we should get a cake with those tasty icing flowers and raspberry filling." C.C. proposed putting her finger on her chin. "Hmmm, but I do also enjoy strawberries." That sounded fun to L. He could make one layer raspberry and one layer strawberry! He loved strawberries, so sweet and tart! He had to pull him back into the moment, forgetting he was here to shadow them, not bake delicious cakes. Double layered cakes with icing flowers and strawberry filling, he could make that little icing border around the edges and..._Focus! _he chided himself.

"That sounds perfect, not to mention tasty. I was told the wedding was the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes it is." They answered in unison. L found that somewhat creepy and as an asocial, sleep-deprived, shoeless genius, he knew what creepy was. The monster behind them that acted like their pet didn't seem to help either.

"Well, I am happy to say it will be ready by then. I will see you then." The faux-couple left and L absentmindedly ate some of the cake from the display case. As far as he could tell it seemed the impromptu wedding had put a grinding halt to their plans. It was rather unfortunate that that he would have to wait two days before something of interest happened, but there was nothing to be done about it.

* * *

Lelouch had a feeling that something wasn't quite right, though it was more like a fact that simply hadn't been written down yet. Light said there had been nothing to report, meaning he'd not seen Ryuzaki or they were conspring. However the vitriolic nature earlier suggested that there wasn't a plot yet, it was just Light's usual derisive behavior. Still with his biggest source of bemusement out of the way he could get to work single-mindedly. He could be focused on the refrain manufacturer Ohgi had discovered from his contacts.

Taking down a refrain manufacturer at first seemed difficult, but now Lelouch became increasingly suspicious. Refrain was a rather lucrative product, yet no reconnaissance showed any sign of anything more heavily guarded than half a dozen men on watch and the weapons inside. They would be useless against the weakest of knightmares, Lelouch smelled a trap. The warehouse was far away from well trafficked areas, so disguise was hardly the problem. Availability would be no concern, as even the Japanese could find some, even if they were in poor condition. None of this really added up, so doubtless it was a trap. Nevertheless, the Black Knights were a force for Justice and they would work to cleanse the world.

He oversaw the operation from the Zeromobile. Aizawa did not seem to hold Ryuzaki in much esteem and he was rather skillful. Unfortunately Ryuzaki didn't trust anyone enough for Aizawa to act as a spy. He and Light were simply in a different league than the rest of the Black Knights, as well as the two L brought with him. He needed to do this personally and Lelouch hardly had time for that.

As Aizawa carried out the mission exactly as planned though, Lelouch thought he would have a bit more time on his hands. Going in firing through the door, it would look suitably theatric. The workers scrambled for the weapons, shooting at the Black Knights, but they were clearly not soldiers. They scattered, trying to fight, but as soon as Kallen entered with her Knightmare, they fled.

Confirming his suspicions, the Knight Police showed up. Of course the local law enforcement could be bribed into guarding the warehouse. But Kallen was the best pilot they had, she was solely focused on the mission at hand. She swiftly disposed of the opposing knightmare. _Exactly as planned. _Lelouch thought, drumming his fingers on the table. _Now if only the situation in Australia could go as smoothly._

A/N- I'm still alive! Sorry, I've had this chapter in the works for a while now, and that's why I'm throwing it out there. I will still be dead for the next couple weeks, so don't be too expectant. Also I had a massive facepalm while looking through older chapters, but I think I can fix it without a retcon. Hopefully I can get into full typing mode somewhat soon!


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